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Elite Direto Trainer In-Depth Review

Earlier this summer Elite announced the Direto, a direct drive trainer that’s fully integrated into the likes of Zwift and TrainerRoad. Priced at $899 it was initially targeted at the mid-range price market, but over the course of the last few months the target audience has widened to likely best some of the higher end trainers as well. And ultimately, I think it’s probably the ‘trainer to beat’ for 2017 for all but the most specific of use cases. But I’ll explain that thinking more later on.

In the meantime, since earlier July when it first announced, I’ve shifted from a pre-production unit to a final production unit. Elite also started shipping units which have arrived on people’s doorsteps over the last week or so. Once I wrap-up this review I’ll be sending back both loaner test units to them and going out and getting my own through normal retail channels. Just the way I roll.

For those that want a bit of the basics, I cover almost everything you need to know about the Direto here:

Or, if video isn’t your thing, we can get onto the review itself!

Unboxing:

To start, we’ll begin with the hefty box that contains the Elite Direto:

Cracking it open you’ll find the Direto inside, covered by foam and largely assembled.

It’s covered in plastic, to keep it pretty in the event there’s a foam catastrophe with your local UPS man:

And here’s all the goods laid out on the floor:

Ultimately, you’ll just want to hit up that manual though, which instructs you on putting together the three legs. Note in the upper right are the different options for axles, such as compatibility for 142×12 thru-axles.

These three legs need to be inserted into the base using this handful of bolts:

The entire process will maybe take you 3-4 minutes. Perhaps 5 minutes if you get distracted taking 58 photos of the whole scene:

Then you need to install your cassette. Remember that the Elite Direto does not include a cassette, so you’ll need to buy one. I generally just plop on the same model cassette on all my trainers, which is this Shimano Ultegra 11-speed cassette that runs for about $65. Of course, you can go SRAM if you have SRAM, Campy if you have Campy, and so on. You will need a lockring tool though to install the cassette, and ideally a chain whip. Though you can get away with an old glove in place of the chain whip.

Note that you can install Shimano/SRAM 9/10/11 speed cassettes without any extra accessory, however, for Campagnolo cassettes (9/10/11 speed), you’ll need an adapter from Elite.

After installation of the cassette and legs, we’ve got the entire thing sitting there looking pretty, all legs extended and cassette teeth smiling:

With that, we’re ready to start.

The Basics:

The first thing to know is that the unit does require being plugged into the wall. When doing so, you’ll end up illuminating the three lights on the side of the side/back that show you status. This status includes ANT+ status, Bluetooth Smart status, and overall power.

Some have asked what happens if you pedal without it plugged in, and it does provide some resistance. It won’t broadcast power/cadence/speed however, nor respond to resistance control from devices/apps. But it will provide about 220w of steady-state resistance, and you can sprint up to about 300w or so (but it’ll quickly settle back on about 220w within a few seconds). This will vary based on your exact gearing, but that’s the most I could squeeze out of it without power. Still, for those that might want to do a warm-up at a race on it, it may work for you. Or you could find one of those car battery converter things and plug it into your car’s power port.

When it comes to resistance, the Direto is a fully resistance controlled trainer, meaning that it can take commands from apps and devices to adjust the resistance according to the app instructions. So it can simulate slopes from 0% to 14%, as well as specific wattages up to 2,200w. This second piece is known as ‘ERG mode’, and is often used in structured workouts like those that TrainerRoad and other apps excel at.

The Direto does this by electronically moving a magnet inside the unit, allowing it to simulate pretty much anything most cyclists would want. So you can re-ride a famous climb watching a video in Kinomap, or execute Team Sky’s structured workouts on a Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT. Whatever floats your boat.

When it makes this adjustment in ERG mode there’s a slight delay that I discuss more in detail in the trainer apps section below. When in slope simulation mode there’s no delay for responsiveness.

A lot of folks ask about road-like feel. Road-feel generally comes from the weight of a flywheel. For the most part, the bigger the flywheel, the more road-like feel you get. Though there are creative ways companies can double or increase the flywheel ‘effect’ without increasing the weight, such as through additional gearing like the higher end Drivo, which has a 6KG flywheel but a two gearing system that doubles the effective flywheel weight to 12KG. And some like the Tacx Neo have no flywheel at all, it’s all simulated (and really good at it). So it’s not as clear-cut as comparing weights as you might think.

Either way, the Direto has a 4.2KG (9.24LBS) flywheel, which is about average for a mid-range trainer. Usually the higher end trainers (i.e. $1,100+ units) have about a 10-12KG flywheel. But again, size isn’t everything…it’s how you use it. Or something like that.

In the case of the Direto’s road-like feel, I’d rate it ‘good’, but not great. But like I always say – no matter how good the road feel is, I’m still staring at a wall in my basement. So it’s kinda hard to totally separate that for me.

Next, what about noise? The Direto is about middle of the road here as well. Noise on trainers is 100% related to speed, not power output. Especially in ERG mode because you can sit on 1,000w at a mere 6MPH or at 20MPH depending on your gearing. At 20MPH it will be substantially louder than 6MPH. I often measure noise levels with a combination of my decibel meter stoplight and a straight-up normal decibel meter, and my measurements agree with that of Shane Miller in his quick video he did on noise levels below:

Keep in mind though again that many factors impact noise level testing, including: speed, gearing, chain cleanliness, room design, room size, microphone placement, decibel meter placement (distance and angle from bike), room materials, other items in room, and tidal patterns. Ok, not tidal patterns, but seriously – I can make any trainer sound on video as loud or quiet as I want based on tweaking just one of the items above. So take everything with a boulder sized grain of salt. At the end of the day know that it’s no Tacx Neo, it’s just middle of the road. I do however find the sound more pleasant than the Tacx Flux, which to me has a bit of grinding sound to it (as you can hear easily above).

The Direto does actually contain a power meter, called OTS (Optical Torque Sensor), which is rated at +/- 2.5%. That’s the best claimed accuracy we’ve seen in a mid-range trainer, and only slightly below what we see in most high-end trainers which is usually +/- 1-2%. Elite recommends you calibrate this occasionally using a quick and simple roll-down procedure. Note that no other mid-range trainers have a power meter. Inversely, note that having a power meter doesn’t guarantee perfect accuracy. In fact, the KICKR 2 and KICKR 3 showed that ditching a power meter could improve accuracy since it was one less component to break during shipping (which is what was occurring for KICKR 1 folks). Either way, that’s not really an issue here with the Direto as you’ll see in the accuracy section.

Now I will say that while I calibrated my unit once at the start, I haven’t done so since and it’s remained incredibly consistent and accurate – far more than almost any other trainer I’ve seen (except the Elite Drivo, which also uses OTS…and the Tacx Neo). As such for this trainer, my gut feel is you can get away with doing calibration every few weeks, or when the temperature significantly shifts in your pain cave.

Finally, when it comes to movement/storage/portability, note that the legs do fold straight to the unit itself, enabling you to store it more easily:

There’s also little adjustable portions under each leg to allow you to further adjust the height of each leg individually in the event you have a wonky-ass floor like mine is.

With that – let’s get this thing connected to some apps and cookin’.

App Compatibility:

When it comes to app compatibility, the Elite Direto is technically the most capable trainer on the market today for 3rd party apps. Albeit, probably only a technicality. See, it’s the first trainer to start shipping that supports the new Bluetooth Smart trainer control protocol (FTMS: Fitness Machine Service). Of course, it also supports the more widely adopted ANT+ FE-C as well.

In total, here are all the ways the Direto transmits data to 3rd party apps:

For all the apps out there, check out my full compatibility list within the annual trainer apps guide (to be updated in October, though all the compatibility data is largely still valid).

In my case, I largely tested with Zwift and TrainerRoad – simply because those are the two biggest apps out there today. Within that framework, I did both regular riding in Zwift (+ workouts), as well as ERG workouts in TrainerRoad.

Starting with TrainerRoad, you’d go ahead into the devices area and find the Direto listed. In my case it showed up as DI:

I went ahead and renamed that to Elite Direto, and then also disabled PowerMatch, because for testing reasons I want to know it’s thinking for itself and not relying on another power meter. However, for most other people you’ll likely leave the default as enabled.

Next, I loaded up my usual 30×30 trainer test. This is something I end up running on virtually all trainers as a great way to validate ERG mode responsiveness. It starts off with a short two-minute ramp, and then it oscillates power at 30-second intervals between a low wattage (about 150w on this day), and a high wattage (about 470w). You can run this same workout yourself here.

From there, off I went, right into things. You’ll see there’s current power (465w), as well as target power (472w).

While ERG mode will maintain a given wattage, you’ll see slight differences if you quickly shift cadence or attempt to sprint. At which point the trainer will reign you back in, but it offers you a little bit of ‘give’.

When it comes to responsiveness, I was curious how quickly ERG mode would react to the shift in power (~150w to ~472w). And on average it took about 3-4 seconds to make that transition. This is pretty normal for a trainer. Some can do it a second or two faster, but you actually don’t really want to go from 150w to 500w in one second. It’d be like hitting a brick wall. So all in all here, I was happy with this.

You can see above on the yellow line how things reacted quickly compared to the blue blocks which are what’s specified in the plan. Note that different apps apply different levels of smoothing, and trainer companies also in turn enable different levels of smoothing. Further, some trainers have technological limitations to how fast they can shift power in an ERG mode configuration.

But for the Direto, I’m not seeing that be a big issue in my case. I suppose if you were doing ERG micro-intervals (i.e. 10-second long intervals), and perhaps at a bigger wattage differences (150w to 1,000w), the transition may be too long. But in my case, it wasn’t a concern.

Note that in the case of TrainerRoad, the Direto is also providing cadence and speed data as well.

Next, let’s look at Zwift. Here things are pretty darn similar. You’ll start off by pairing to the Elite Direto trainer within the equipment menu:

And then from there you’ll want to validate both speed and cadence are coming from the Direto, if that’s what you prefer. I personally would use a dedicated cadence sensor for the most accurate cadence data, if it were me. But sometimes I’m just lazy and don’t care.

After that, you’re off and cruising in Zwift. Of course, in regular (non-workout) mode, Zwift is transmitting the grade to the Direto, which in turn automatically adjusts the grade on the trainer.

This means that if you ride up a 6% climb, that it’ll feel like 6% – at least if you’ve got the realism setting enabled. That setting is by default set to 50% realism, so you’d want to tweak that in the settings to ‘get all the feels’. Note, this does not impact how fast you might race in Zwift, that’s all dictated from your actual wattage.

For things like responsiveness in sprints or climbs, I’ve had zero issues there with the Direto. It responds as fast as I can throw down the wattage (I top out around 1,000w). So I can’t speak for someone that may have far bigger legs than I. Though I haven’t heard of any issues with the Direto either. Note that I cover accuracy in these sprints in the next section.

When it comes to Zwift workout mode, the basics of pairing and such are all the same. However what differs is how Zwift handles the ERG function. Zwift will set ERG mode, but it’s not as strict as TrainerRoad is on holding the wattage. So with Zwift, you end up wobbling a bit more at the target wattage than TrainerRoad. Their idea being that it teaches you to hold power more accurately out on the road. And there’s some truth to that. On the flip-side, I personally prefer just having the trainer hold the wattage as set (after all, that’s why I bought an expensive trainer).

Still, those differences are merely belief-based more than technical. So they apply to any trainer you choose on either platform.

As far as apps go though on the whole, the Direto has you covered. One interesting item to note is that while the Direto does technically have their previous Elite-specific Bluetooth Smart control in it (it’s what Zwift uses), it’s not advertised. As such companies are heavily encouraged to leverage the new Bluetooth Smart FTMS standard. So I suspect we’ll see some quirks this fall as companies get that cooking in full.

For example, TrainerRoad worked over the summer to get things ‘ready’ for the Direto on FTMS, and launched that last week. They’re also working hand in hand with Tacx to ensure when Tacx lights up FTMS shortly, that things work without issue there too. As each company navigates the slightly uncharted waters of FTMS, each one is doing it slightly differently. I don’t expect this to be a long term problem, and it’s great to see that Elite decided to pave the way here as it really helps out consumers and smaller app makers long term to all be on two core trainer control standards: ANT+ FE-C and Bluetooth Smart FTMS.

Power Accuracy Analysis:

Next up, let’s dive into some of the power accuracy figures for the Elite Direto. In the case of the Direto, they claim accuracy within +/- 2.5%, using their OTS power meter. In order to validate that I’m comparing against a number of ‘known good’ power meters at once on the same bike.

In the case of testing the production Direto over the last month, I’ve been comparing it against the following power meters concurrently:

When it comes to testing, I generally focus on 2-3 core apps, and then a few scenarios within that. Keep in mind that while every app will impact slight differences in responsiveness of the trainer, it won’t impact the underlying accuracy. In all cases, I’m recording the power data stream directly from the Elite Direto, not via the app. I record these streams to a pile of Garmin Edge devices via ANT+ (usually a blend of Edge 520’s, 820’s and lately an Edge 1030).

With that, let’s dive right into things with the 30×30 testing you saw above via TrainerRoad. This is my defacto test for trainers and looking at accuracy between multiple power meters. Here’s the overall test:

While I talked about how this is testing responsiveness, it’s also testing the accuracy in large power shifts. And at the end of this test I tossed in two quick sprints to almost 900w. First though, we’ll start with the 30×30 sections by zooming in (but leaving zero smoothing on):

Here you see things look really good actually in that they all jump together at exactly the same rate and to almost the exact same place. You’ll see very slight differences in 1-second power (as seen above), due to recording/transmission rates on the protocol. If I add a 3-second smoothing to the graphs, it helps to show how similar they are:

All of them are within a few watts, though the Power2Max NG ECO does briefly go slightly higher for a few seconds and then settles out. Whether it’s being more sensitive or not it’s super clear to me. Again, large shifts in power is always somewhat tricky to match perfectly across units.

Either way, the rest of the 30×30’s were all essentially the same. The only variability you see in the power levels is due to me shifting cadence dramatically, which causes trainers to take a second or two to re-stabilize. Though accuracy doesn’t shift any during that.

Looking later on in the workout I did two random sprints for fun:

These came close to 900w and you can see all three power meters essentially mirrored each other within a few percent, which is what we’d expect. We also see the Elite Direto show as the ‘lowest’ value of the three, which is also as expected, given it’s measuring power furthest from the source (my foot). So all good in TrainerRoad on 30×30’s on the iPad using Bluetooth Smart control.

Meanwhile, here’s another TrainerRoad workout, this time using FE-C to control things from a Windows computer.

The numbers are so close it’s crazy. To the point it’s not really worth digging into in a pile of screenshots, seriously, they’re almost identical. Really solid.

Again, not to belabor things, but it once again looks really solid here. Let’s start by looking at those two bumps of intensity earlier on:

You can see all three units track within a few watts of each other the entire time, and find the same point after the initial sprint within two seconds. As expected there’s very slight variability between the units second to second, but they all trend almost atop each other.

If we look at one early sprint just shy of 800w, you’ll see everyone matches very closely:

But check out as I stop pedaling for 15-20 seconds what happens (below): There’s a very slight delay for the Direto to zero down the power, about 5 seconds longer than the others. This isn’t uncommon for trainers to see this kinda taper. While not ideal, I can’t think of many scenarios it’ll matter in real-life. If I stop pedaling entirely, I’m unlikely to complain about a slight taper of that power to 0w. Though to each their own.

Speaking of another imperfection: Cadence on the Direto. While most people probably won’t care about this either, I do find oddities here and there – little spikes. You can see this below:

Same goes for another ride with the same spikes:

What’s interesting is these don’t correlate to any major efforts for the most part, but rather significant shifts in power, usually downwards (i.e. after a sprint). Having cadence oddities on trainers isn’t unusual, you’ll see wobbles in implementations by Tacx (Wahoo and CycleOps don’t do it at all). If you’re using a separate cadence sensor, then that’ll override the trainer and all will be well.

In any event, as for power accuracy – all seems quite well here. Certainly for the price, it’s awesome. And you can see why I think this challenges the $1,200+ trainers that claim higher accuracy levels. Best I can see the Direto is matching those accuracy claims, proof and all.

(Note: All of the charts in these accuracy sections were created using the DCR Analyzer tool. It allows you to compare power meters/trainers, heart rate, cadence, speed/pace, GPS tracks and plenty more. You can use it as well, more details here.)

Trainer Comparisons:

I’ve loaded the Elite Direto into the product comparison tool, so you can compare it against other trainers that I’ve reviewed (which is pretty much any trainer out there these days). In order to best understand where the Direto fits in, I’ve compared it against a few other ones in the same rough price range. Note that you can mix and match your own product comparison tables here though.

For the purposes of below, I’ve compared the most-like competitor, the Tacx Flux, as well as the KICKR SNAP. There’s obviously units significantly higher in price that I believe it very much competes against in most categories (namely the Wahoo KICKR, Elite Drivo, and CycleOps Hammer…and to a lesser degree the Tacx Neo), depending on what you want.

Some of you will ask whether I’d recommend the Direto or the Flux. And my personal preference at the moment is this, if only for the slightly improved accuracy. While Flux did decrease their accuracy to +/- 3%, I’d argue that Elite’s real accuracy on the Direto is probably closer to +/- 1%. And I’d even bet that are saying +/- 2.5% in an attempt not to undercut sales of their higher end Drivo at +/- 1%. Said differently: My suspicion is that both units actually have the same OTS in them (despite being theoretically named differently) and that accuracy is likely identical on both. That’s (mostly) just a gut feeling.

Of course, the Flux is actually easily found now (and last year’s teething troubles are long ago history), whereas the Direto will be supply limited for probably a few months. The sound is a tiny bit louder on the Flux than the Direto, but I prefer the ‘cleaner’ sound on the Direto than the Flux.

I also prefer the fact that the Direto can easily fold up and be moved around, whereas the Flux lacks that capability. But again, to each their own.

Expect my full annual round-up of trainers in the week following Interbike (so Sept 25th), as I’d like to see how the new Bkool and Minoura offerings look in person. But neither company is introducing anything that impacts this specific category.

Wrap-Up:

So as I started off this post, I noted that I think the Direto is the ‘trainer to beat’ for the 2017-2018 trainer season. Obviously, that can be a somewhat confusing statement. Surely it’s not the highest end consumer trainer (I’d award that to the Tacx Neo, or perhaps the Wahoo KICKR+CLIMB combo). But it’s by far the best value, and virtually matches those other trainers when it comes to accuracy (at $300-$700 less for the base trainer). And that in my mind makes it the best all-around trainer of 2017.

Said differently: If my Dad were to ask which trainer to buy, this would be it.

Sure, it could be a tiny bit quieter (but still, it’s not much different than any other trainer). Or I suppose it could be certified as +/- 1% accuracy instead of +/- 2.5% (but really, all the data I see seems +/- 1% anyway). Or I suppose it could take 2 seconds instead of 3 seconds to shift 400w of range in ERG mode. But I don’t think that really matters to most people. It responds instantly in Zwift for racing, and it gives you plenty of money left over for purchasing other bike goodness. Or buying your significant other gifts. Your choice.

For those that want the absolute quietest trainer (Tacx Neo), absolute most road-like (Elite Drivo, KICKR or Neo), or most automated incline like (KICKR+CLIMB), then certainly there are other options at a significant premium. But for everyone that wants a fantastic trainer at a fantastic price, the Elite Direto wins this round.

With that – thanks for reading!

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Hopefully you found this review useful. At the end of the day, I’m an athlete just like you looking for the most detail possible on a new purchase – so my review is written from the standpoint of how I used the device. The reviews generally take a lot of hours to put together, so it’s a fair bit of work (and labor of love). As you probably noticed by looking below, I also take time to answer all the questions posted in the comments – and there’s quite a bit of detail in there as well.

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Yup, in short, you’d need the stick. Some ANT+ stick, really any stick.

It may be worthwhile checking in your circle of friends, especially runner friends. Many runners may have older Garmin Forerunner watches (made more than 3+ years ago) that had sticks that came with them that they might not be using anymore sitting in a desk drawer.

Hi Ray, Great review, about the delay in erg mode, I saw that if you slight reduce the cadence while the power increase seems to mitigate the problem, but it’s normal, it’s the time that the annoyng louder stepper motor need to move the magnet. Anyway I’m very, very impressed about the power accurancy, it’s crazy specially at that price! I’m one of the lucky people that had recived their Drivo on Thursday and I play with it all the weekend, also because of too many rain in Italy 🙂

For anyone with Campy, you can get a modified Shimano cassette from Wheels Manufacturing that allows you to use the the shimano freehub body. It’s expensive, but I’ve used this on several trainer and it works perfectly with my campy drivetrain.

I’m a little confused about that cassette – 11-speed spacing should be the same on Shimano and Campagnolo cassettes (for all practical purposes) and are basically drop in compatible. That’s been demonstrated pretty much since they’ve were released, so you should be able to just use any old Shimano 11-speed road cassette with your 11-speed Campy drive train.

Thanks for the review — very helpful, as ever. One follow up question.

A few people on the Direto Facebook page are reporting the trainer has a distinct ‘old printer sound’ when adjusting resistance. You note the Direto is ‘middle of the road’ in terms of noise, but I was wondering if you’d noticed this buzzing sound or have any thoughts on how distracting / off-putting it is?

If I’ve skimmed through all those posts correctly, it’s actually just one person hearing a sound (and the rest referencing a circular reference of the same person in multiple sites).

If you’re not pedaling, you should hear a very slight sound when powering on the trainer and if changing in ERG mode. It does have similarities to an old printer, but that it’s about the same loudness as your cell phone vibrating on a couch in a quiet room (not a table, a couch). If it’s any louder than that, then something is defective/broken. You definitely can’t hear it after you pedal even the slightest bit, since it’s so quiet.

I agree with how Ray described when you hear the sound, and its volume. I didn’t even think twice about it until I read the post on the Facebook page. I always have headphones on when riding indoors so it’s not a factor for me at all.

I listened to both videos. From what I recall, mine sounds more like TK’s. Again, I wasn’t worried when I heard it. Probably best to let Elite listen and respond about noise levels and variance between trainers.

JK – what do you mean by “all the time”? Every time you plug it in? I’ve only used the trainer briefly, with an Elite app video (free one), for 15 minutes, and I don’t recall that same “plug in” noise again. But I was also watching a DVD with headphones on.

JK – thanks. Question (as I’ve never used these apps, yet) does the buzz happen when you change wattage or when the app increases decreases resistance, or both? And is the buzz the exact same as when plugging it in?

To test this out I went ahead and downloaded Zwift (7-day free trial).

It was on the London map, and not surprisingly the elevation/incline didn’t get too intense. I noticed some downhills at -3% and uphills at 4%. I left off the headphones and the fan. I pedalled for about 15 minutes. I didn’t here the buzz at all during this time. The plug-in buzz is loud enough that if it was happening during my ride I would’ve heard it, and again, I didn’t hear anything except for my pedalling. I also shifted several times, and went easier and harder. If this volume is the ‘normal experience’, I have zero complaints 🙂

I have the “louder” “dot-matrix” buzzing. Honestly if others hadn’t brought it up I wouldn’t even have had any second thoughts about it. It happens on start up and occasionallyduring Zwift but it’s not really annoying (to me anyway). I’ve had a defective Flux so I’m definitely more paranoid than most, but for me would qualify as normal.

Definitely yes, I do workout,so in erg mode and the speed it’s not enough to cover the buzz , I’m quite sure that with zwift as the speed is more, you don’t hear the buz at all. In my opinion to accelerate the production they have jump something in the , so the product is working but you get some minor quirk. Anyway today I will call Elite and ask for support for the buzz, but maybe someone like you Ray, that have a better/bigger impact with the Elite company, can call and ask for serious consideration of the problematic that someone seems to have. Thank you Ray every time your word are welcome.

Hi Ray and thank you, Today called Elite and they ask to me to send the video, I’m waiting for a answer. It’s odd because it work correctly,well at the end of the day you can tolerate , even because at a certain point the sufferance is much bigger 🙂

Hi Ray, some folk at Elite tell me that this different sound is because of two different brand of stepper motor, one work with an higher frequencies and it’s a bit louder, but they told that while pedaling the sound it’s the same……well it’s a lie. Officially they will produce a video where demonstrate that, and of course I will respond with mine, while I’m doing an ERG workout. The reason it’s quite simple….it work with higher frequencies every time and is clearly audible while pedaling, it’s not a joke I’m deaf at 50% and in the same side of the stepper motor!! I don’t know if laugh or cry.

I tried a workout in Zwift tonight, which I presume is ERG mode. I picked the Wringer, so after 8 min warmup you have 30s at 365w then 90w for 2:00. Maybe because I’m pedalling, but I didn’t hear the buzz as much as when I plug it in. So I can’t say if the volume of the buzz is as loud, and for as long. Bigger issue was that I couldn’t hit 365w 🙁 lol

Hi Ray, I read you spoke with Elite today, may you have some news for the buzz issue? Also I need some help from anyone intersted in this problem, because I have to send a video to Elite while riding, but after some test with the phone it’s very difficult to capture the buzz togheter with the other rumor, not because isn’t there but because of the limit of the phone microphone,so I need someone with a better microphone that can get the buzz while riding and after I will send to Elite, please help me. Thank you.

So chatted with Elite a bit on this, and yesterday they spent some time doing some tests and putting together a video.

Essentially depending on different batches of trainers, the parts will result in different sounds for the moving magnet noise. Some quieter, some louder. As we’ve seen, some folks end up with quieter ones, others louder ones. Further, they noted that the length of the noise will depend on where it has to move from in it’s previous position, as well as whether it’s power on or steady-state.

Elite recorded a person on a trainer showing the sound alone (the louder variant), the trainer alone, and the sound + trainer.

Here’s that video (they just sent me a video file, so I stuck it up unlisted on YouTube): link to youtu.be

I can’t really argue with what the numbers show. It’s no doubt louder than what I’m hearing, but as the numbers show, it’s immediately drowned out by the sound of the trainer/gearing. :-/

Sorry Ray I think could be a good idea if you ask to Elite to send to you ine ofthe new Direto unit with the louder motor and you can test it for rumor, what do you think? It’s a mater of justice, I pay the same price as your but I got a much more louder unit than you, so why they don’t want to admit?

You know I’m sure that the number don’t speak nothing, it’s the frequencies the problem, the buzz is cleary audible while riding even with the same noise level. For examp,e with number I can dimostrate that there are something after the death 😉

Question – do you think there would be any quality issues with the “louder” parts that are in some trainers? I’m generally fine with the noise, but I wouldn’t want inferior parts that may lead to other issues down the road. If it’s only a difference in sound levels, and no other differences, that is reasonable.

It’s like air conditioners for houses, when I had mine installed (someone I know well), he said you can pay $ extra for the quieter model, but the only advantage is that it’s quieter. Otherwise they’re the same.

I’m guessing they pass the same quality levels no matter the loudness. I think it’s simply just a case of limited availability of parts, sorta like how the power meter portion is currently the limiter on trainer production.

For what I can tell, it work like a charm, it’s another point there, it’s the point that with their choice has produced client A and client B. I’m sure they did in faith, but the think remain, and also seems to refuse any critique from customere like me, who have problems with their choice Regards.

The video from Elite does illustrate that drivetrain noise is louder than the beeping, although this may depend on whether a representative drivetrain, in terms of maintenance, was used to produce the video. It would also have been useful for them to record the bike in motion while the beeping occurs, to give us a more ‘real-world’ impression of how perceptible the noise is while riding.

The bit that concerns me is that Elite seems to have sent ‘quiet’ units to major reviewers prior to launch — indeed, the issue has only come to light after customers started to receive their Diretos. I’d be willing to bet the units displayed by Elite at Eurobike were also of the quieter variety.

All of which seems a bit disingenuous to me. If Elite were aware of a discrepancy between units then they should have made this clear at the outset. This is certainly the first time I’ve ever heard of such a difference between products of the same model number, without the difference being caused by manufacturing error etc.

My Direto has yet to be shipped by CT, so I don’t know whether I’ll have an effected unit or whether I’ll be bothered by the sound. I think mine is due to go out start of next week, so I have a few days to decide whether to switch to a different option (Flux or Kickr, if I can find one on a decent sale).

Just noticed that they did record the drivetrain and beeping noises at the same time toward the end of the video. Drivetrain certainly seems to drown out most of the beeping, although, given the high pitch of the beep, it’s definitely still perceptible.

What’s funny here is this is the same sound that’s been on other Elite trainers for years, and it’s virtually never talked about.

As for your statement about accuracy differences, there’s really no basis for that. We know that all OTS components come from a single manufacturer, in Germany (a small company). After all, that’s why there’s limited production of Direto right now. In fact, I even met the inventor of OTS at Eurobike randomly.

I get that there’s weirdness between having two different motors, but it’s not something that extends beyond that sound. Interestingly, I think my pre-prod unit is actually louder. I’ll do a quick check tomorrow. My point being, it’s not something that I really even noticed/cared about at the time, since it’s been on Elite units for years.

I can’t speak for the past, it’s my first and maybe last Elite product, but because there is a precedent what TK said colud be true. So could be very nice, if two people there with the buzzer unit and a power meter would share with us some power reading.

I mean, I don’t want to tellthat there isn’t the OTS, but who can tell to us if they did a good job while calibrating the device and with the same result of yours, or maybe yours it’s a bit tweaked to gain more point in your rewiew?

I was zwifting yesterday evening and during the ride I can hear the pemanent changing of resistance when I hit watts up to 300. To be clear here: the Direto is overall very silent which is true for the buzz of resistance change, too. Thus, when saying I can still hear it, it is really no problem regarding the overall sound.

I was worried by an earlier comment from Ray that this might be a malfunction or defect. Since Elite states that there is no problem with that sound and explains it by using a different motor, I tell myself not to worry about it. To be on the safe side on this I’m going to inform the seller and direto about this.

Two other remarks on quality control: The outer plastic shell of my Direto has a minor flaw where it is fit together with the other half. No big thing, but I would have expected that perfect quality control would have sort this piece out. Two stickers on the folding legs are missing. No big thing, too, but QC is not on top level here, that’s a fact.

Besides these minor flaws I really enjoyed the ride on the Direto an I’m looking forward to the winter season on a still great trainer. Considering the price I paid (699€) I can’t complain.

I care about the silence a lot since I want to be riding early morning hours (starting 5 AM) in a block of flats. I’m assuming using the ERG mode I can be riding hard while maintaining fairly low speed and in this case would be resistance change buzz be not too loud / annoying?

Similar to Easy’s post above, the buzz while riding is very quiet, and most often split-second as the motor is adjusting resistance in small increments (unless going up 100’s of watts…but that’s not loud either, to me). The sound of you pedalling (drivetrain) is not surprisingly, louder, as it would be on any trainer. Once you get going and stop trying to listen for stuff, you don’t notice anything.

Jacek – do you you have a current trainer that you use indoors at 5am? If no sound problems with your neighbors I would assume the same for the Direto. The overall sound video posted bub Ray covers this. And the one by Elite (that one might be on the FB page).

Just as a minor update, this morning I pulled out the prototype Direto and compared the sound to the production one. Sure enough, the prototype one is the louder variant. What’s funny here is that it never really occurred to me, since it’s the same sound as the Drivo and other trainers they’ve had previously. All of which is instantly drowned out by the noise of the drivetrain/etc.

I didn’t quite have time to make a video as I was running to catch a train, but it simply matches the sounds already published above.

Thought I’d add an update now I’ve put a few hours on my Direto. I have one with the louder motor, but I don’t notice it when riding. If I try and listen out for the noise, then it is perceptible over drivetrain noise (barely), but mid workout it’s not something I notice (exception being shifts of a large number of watts in erg mode — e.g. doing sprints and recovery intervals).

Very happy with the trainer overall and I’d definitely recommend it. I had been using a Kickr SNAP — the Direto both feels better and is much less hassle to set up. It’s really nice to be able to just ride without having to worry about advance calibration every time etc.

I recently purchased a Direto trainer. It does makes a “dot matrix printer” noise all the time. But it is not that annoying to me given the white noise from the fan, drive train noise, and music I am playing drown it out. I think it is a common “feature” of this trainer.

Hi Ray, I just set up my Direto and that “printer sound” you refer to and have illustrated in your video is not the one I’m getting from my unit. I get more of a low howl of the type old dot matrix printers would make when the printer head would slide across the page before printing started. I’ve attached a video….I think this may be what some of your readers are referring to.

Same here. Nothing like the quiet hum-type one you get from your unit Ray when you plugged it in your video. I contacted elite and they told me it’s normal. Perhaps normal for this trainer, but it is a downer. In ERG mode it’s not bad at all. But when riding around Zwift, it’s bad, and loud. I still stand behind my previous comments that it’s a bit slow to respond in Zwift in general (compared to my bushido), and I think that exacerbates the dot matrix printer noise.

I’ve got the same concern. I’ve spent the last 3 days trying to set mine up. Mine definitely sounds like starting up an old school printer when it starts up. Not to mention I cannot figure out how to get it calibrated within my Garmin 820. I’m either going 100 mph or 2.

Hi, I have the Direto for 3 days and I have this mobile phone noise vibrating on a chair ;-), and this at the beginning of the slope of 7/8%, it does not bother me so much the quality of pedaling is much better than a tacx genius for example … Raphael

I see that you’re looking to update the Annual Trainer Apps guide for October. Have you come across BigRingVR? It’s in an free open public beta atm, and I’ve been really impressed with it. (I’m in no way affiliated with it, I just like the app, and the developers are extremely responsive on Strava and Twitter).

Yup, I’ll ensure it’s on my list. Generally speaking my cut-off for apps is that they have had to release some sort of update since early spring. I feel like if they haven’t done that, then they aren’t really a real player in the space. Again, just a rough line in the sand.

I just learned about Big Ring VR thanks to your post. Direto is not listed as a supported trainer but am I correct in assuming that everything will work as perfectly as both Direto and BRVR both support ant+ fec?

I rode a bit with Big Ring and it work flaulessy with Direto, it’s a bit annoyng that if you stop a ride at certain point you have to create a custom one to restart from the last point, but apart this it’s a very good program and work great.

As someone new to smart trainers and the apps, I found it especially helpful that you covered TR and Zwift in the way you did. I was confused about how the resistance/watts of the trainer is controlled via the apps, though now I understand this much better.

I didn’t even realize that the Direto can provide cadence data (I received mine the other day, but have only tried briefly…as the weather has been great where I am). I’ll be using the Wahoo Cadence sensor though, and given some of the slight imperfections you pointed out, it’s probably worth the small price I paid.

For everyone interested, speaking with a tecnician at Elite, he told me that the android application will support the pedaling analysis shortly, and that they are tweaking the algoritm to speed up a bit the things while there are big wattage differences in ERG mode.

Is there any direct drive trainer that can work with a 8-speed shimano cassette, maybe with some spacers? I’ve an old alloy bike solely responsible for trainer duty, I was using it with a Tacx Flow but it died recently, I would love a direct drive but don’t want to shell out for a groupset upgrade. Another option I’m looking into is a Kickr Snap + cheapish powermeter (Favero maybe) on a later time and pair them together. For my tri and road bike I already have a P2max.

You might not need any of that, I think the chain will wrap around the jockey wheels of the existing derailleur. And you don’t really need to shift with an ERG trainer so just get it index to mesh with one of the cogs of the cassette and it should all work as is.

Indeed, but shifting would be useful when on Zwift (although I only use it in the off-season). But I could get a shifter only and use the current derailleur, I’m sure it doesn’t have the range to do 11 but it may work for 9/10 sprockets.

I’m just rambling here…

Anyway, thank you for your feedback, it’s indeed an option I haven’t though before and might work, albeit a little frankensteinish 🙂

I may be wrong, and dcrainmaker’s snap review surely tells otherwise, but I’m not sure on how reliable the snap can be week after week, but as I said, I might be, and probably am, wrong.

Until recently I didn’t care about reliable numbers, I was only using a Tacx Flow and the numbers were reproducible, so they were good enough for training, but now with a real PM on my main bike I would like to track accurately my weekly TSS, and use the same power ranges for both indoor and outdoor (although these might differ a little).

If I go with the Snap, before investing in another PM I will compare it with my power2max and if the numbers are accurate enough I’ll call it quits.

For the Snap, and I have an older one and not the new Snap2, power readings are flakey until it warms up. This takes about 7-10 minutes and I notice a significant jump in power…maybe 30 watts or so. I currently have it set up inside (Texas) so the temps are cooler (75F) and it does warm with use. Once warm it matches reasonably well with my P1 pedals. I exclusively use Zwift and use smoothing so Zwift does not pick up peaks but Strava does. Since the last Zwift update, I am loathe to use the spindown function as I think it drives the power numbers a bit too low as compared to the P1s.

Thanks for the writeup Ray – mine is scheduled for delivery from CT on Wednesday! One minor suggestion I’m guessing you’ve already considered – for the comparison tool it would be nice to have some sense of dimensions/mass – I get this is difficult for trainers given the shapes. I’ll be moving mine around regularly, so one of the (many) reasons I’m excited about the Direto is my sense it is lighter and “folds up” smaller than the Kickr. We shall see soon!

RE: K Dub. I was looking for the dimensions too & DC was my first thought, then the manufacturer then google, finally i have some ‘possibly’ correct dimensions from a web retailer – but they could be hooey…. Size (L x W x H): 840 x 650 x 550 mm Now which dimension refers to which – you’ll have to guess 🙂link to elite-it.com

Doesn’t look like you can adjust the height of where the rear attachment is so be pretty hard to make it not use a block. Its compatible with both road and mountain bikes so the size of the wheels it has to support are different plus a 23mm wide tire take less space then 32mm so that could raise or lower the front

Yup, I’ve got meetings already set for next week. They didn’t have a unit at Eurobike, but will have one for Interbike. It’s interesting for sure, but we’ve only seen renders, which I suspect means it’s going to be on a further timeable than other trainers this summer.

One feature I learned about on the Kickr that is pretty dang cool is that it will sync with your power meter (for me a Stages left only) and adjust the resistance based on what the Stages is reporting (versus the internal strain gauge). To me it means having a more synced up experience between road and trainer (I think).

Will the new Elite trainer do something similar? I didn’t see it specifically mentioned in the (always overhwelming) review.

Is that really trainer dependent? Couldn’t software see the “real” power meter is reading 200 watts while the trainer is set for 215 and know the trainer should be set higher if you really want 215 watts? It could learn the offset over time (its probably not just adding a percent or a constant number)

I do the same in Zwift. Directo reports about 10% lower. Who knows if that’s drivetrain lose, left-leg stronger or Stages being off. But I’m with you, I want to have the same metrics as I do on the road

Just got the Direto…finally calibrated it and got 6393 as a calibration number. Is that in the ballpark? Do the lights continue to blink even after you connect and see data on your computer program (Perfpro)?

Just got the Direto and calibrated at 6440 in PerfPro BUT my speed is showing above 100km/h …? I also find the derailleur cage to close to the unit while on the 28 sprocket. My lights continue to blink on PerfPro.

I am very interested in the real world accuracy of this. I have an (otherwise much loved) Kickr (1) which reads 8% above my P2M power meter. Although they advertised it as being +/- 2% accurate, Wahoo fitness tell me that “8% is not outside the normal range”. I would like to know how Elite would respond if I bought a Direto and it was this inaccurate. Is my expectation that expensive trainers should match their advertised specifications unreasonable?

Others that have tested Direto accuracy are reporting the same as I. So I’m pretty sure all of us are real-world.

At the same time, I’d be curious who at Wahoo says +/- 8% is normal? +/- 4%, probably possible given measurement in two locations. Also – have you tried using the far newer 2017 KICKR firmware update that applies to the KICKR1 to change how power is measured?

I had the same experience at Wahoo. They brushed me off when I emailed to inquire why my Kickr V1 is 10% higher than my P1 pedals. Note, the P1s measure in line with a PT hub I have so the Kickr is odd man out.

I may get a nice Computrainer off Ebay for $300 or so and sell the Kickr. DC, do you think 300 reasonable for a GOOD used CT??

Crank/spider/pedal to spider/pedal/crank region power meter: +/- 4% total swing (as it’s +/- 2% for each unit typically). I might alot another 1% at best for loses in a crank arm from say the pedal to the spider.

Downwards from crank/pedal to drive train to trainer, hub, wheel: Reduce by 1-3% for drivetrain inefficiencies (usually 3-10w depending on how clean/dirty).

The PowerTap G3 hub is always a bit of an international man of mystery in these equations as many people in the industry believe it’s purposefully skewed slightly higher to have originally matched the SRM units years ago so that test folks would say it was fine (regardless of whether or not that true). So take that tidbit for what its worth.

Generally speaking if people have a power meter on their bike, they’ll record from that same unit inside and outside, so the numbers are totally consistent. Yet at the same time, if you’re only seeing the numbers differ by a couple watts – I wouldn’t fret it.

It’s more of a concern if you’re seeing a 10-20w+ offset (which then brings up other concerns).

I use the App to record the trainer (Snap) and the head unit (Fenix 3) to record my P1s. Dump both into Strava and compare the power readings. In Strava you can “hide” an exercise to not double count. You may have to edit one of the files (Fit File Tools) with a time change as Strava will not double load if a second exercise comes across as a double.

I have been testing my Direto over two different rides now and it seems that I have a +6 % difference (excel comparison on two different files for each ride) on the work intervals between my Stages PM and the Direto Trainer (Direto measuring higher). Given the accuracy that is stated by the company and this review, I am starting to doubt my L/R balance. I am planning to check the calibration figure on the Direto, just to make sure the tension on the belt is OK. Then I will try to verify the L/R balance (estimation) given by My E-Training app and try to match this to my Stages PM. Does anybody have experience with the app and the L/R balance estimation? I figure that if I have 47-53% L/R balance this can explain the difference. This makes it a little (OK very) hard to do ERG intervals having to push 20W extra on an FTP interval.

Update Looks like I have a slight different offset number after calibration than the one mentioned on the bottom of the trainer 6495 vs 6497 from factory. The manual states I should tension the belt slightly and re-calibrate and check the value again. This process should be iterated until the same value is achieved. I have asked Elite if they see an issue with the drop in the the value. As I do not know what that number stands for I do not know if it is a significant difference in offset value.

As for the L/R balance, the free trial provided by Elite does not include the pedal analysis tool. I should fork out another 10 EUR just to check out the functionality. Shame, they could have at least provided a trial version for a few weeks.

My Drivo was reading about 20W too high out of the box. I takes about 1h of warmup before calibration (yes the drivo also needs a calibration) to get reasonable close to my power2max. But still, each ride there is about a 20minute warmup until the power reading stabilize. Interestingly, my calibration number is also lower after I did my own calibration. However, the Drivo is still reading about 10W higher which is odd because usually the power2max should read higher being a crank based powermeter. Adding up all these numbers would mean my power2max is reading about 15 to 20 less, which seems also a bit strange. Maybe, the are adding a factor for die Drivo power to take drivetrain losses into account? But I also checked Ray’s power comparison and for example the 30/30 intervalls the mean-max curve is withing 2-3 watts however, the during the Zwift workout the bepro pedals are reporting suddenly 10 watts less. I wouldn’t call this “crazy close”.

Christian, are you just using the Elite app from your phone, My calibration seems so fast. It prompts me to start pedaling, then about 5-6 seconds later it prompts me to speed up, then it tells me to stop pedaling, then a few seconds later its done. Is that all there is to it

I don’t have the app or stages but I’ve got Vector pedals which give true L/R balance and I know for me I can range anything from 47/53 to 53/47 so coupled with the actual accuracy of the power measurement a left only could have me out by +/- 10%. I don’t know how useful the Direto app will be at genuinely giving L/R balance as it has no way to distinguish between pulling up on one pedal v pushing down on the other.

Even though my power meter gives me a true balance, I never do anything with it, it’s just the fact it gives you a total power number that I find handy given that my balance does drift.

Can I ask you, what value (diameter) you used in the Elite-App to calibrate? And what diameter do you use on the controlling device (in my case Garmin 520)? I set it to 2070 on the Garmin and got an average speed of 37 today (with 208 Watts) on my Ride…

“Should the software/app/device employ the Speed & Cadence protocol to detect speed, you must set a wheel circumference value that equals the actual wheel divided by 12.1. For instance, if wheel circumference is 2095mm, the value to input as circumference is 2095/12.1 = 173mm.”

Given the fact that you aren’t actually putting a wheel on it, it’s a bit weird (but not Elite’s fault here), so just go with 173mm to make your math life easier.

(Don’t feel silly, I also missed it in the manual back in July when I asked Elite the same thing.)

Thanks! I already read that part… What is a bit confusing, if i put in this value in the Elite App, it automaticaly gives me the value divided by 12.1, so if I enter 2097 (on the app) and press OK, i get a value of 172. I got an answer on the Elite-Direto-Facebook group, they say that on the app i should simply set 2096 and the app will calculate this value (172)…

A little confused here…actually very confused 🙂 So, on my EDGE 820 when I search for new sensors I see indoor trainer and speed/cadence sensors. Adding both, correct? For speed/cadence enter wheel size 173, in indoor trainer circumference default at 2096, leave it as it is? Also, when tried to calibrate using EDGE target speed blank, current speed zero… pedal for a few seconds, get message speed is sufficient, calibration complete and no return value… Am I missing something?

@GPSIF The later Kickr models – and the original Kickr since the beginning of this year after a firmware update – use a power calculation based on modelling the brake itself rather than using the strain gauge based power-meter (electrical characteristics, e.g. you know the power you’re putting into the electromagnets, the physical properties of the damping disc or what-have-you and where it is, it’s speed and so an). It’s a general technique that’s been used for donkeys years – Wahoo showed a number of benefits using it on the Kickr 1 over the power-meter, so they must be doing the sums pretty decently 🙂

Thanks for the review! I am going back and forth between a direct drive trainer or a stand alone spin bike; i am a bigger rider and can push above 2k watts, so i need something that stays rock solid to do my intervals against. Which of the direct drives, at any cost, are the best at being rock solid for an erratic, fool-hardy out of the saddle sprinter?

No, it supports 135×5 but not 135×10. In talking to Elite about it this morning they are going to work on a solution to see that at some new units going out can include support for it, and then figure out a retrofit solution for existing units (that would likely require some sort of service, but still TBD).

I thought my 10-sd shimano cassette was installed fine, but I was putting the bike on today and realized there was some play. I tightened it down and it still had play. When the shop installed it they took it off a wheel as is…which has a spacer toward the hub. The instructions show two spacers if a 9-10 speed cassette. So I guess I need another spacer by the hub? Spacing between the chain rings is fine.

My bike shifts perfectly when using this cassette on my my rear wheel out on the road. When I swap my trainer to it’s identical dedicated cassette and shift into my largest cog in the rear the bike chain comes off. To me this indicates the spacers are too much. There is also alot of slippage in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th hardest gears in the rear wheel. I can get away with ERG trainer sessions and using a non-slip cog ,but it’s frustrating if I want to do anything with Zwift outside of workout mode.

I’m not sure the thickness of the spacers in Elite’s trainer box ,but I was wondering if other people had to purchase different spacers to make both road riding and trainer riding compatible without needing to always adjust your rear derailleur!

I am really close to pulling the trigger on this one. But I am wondering – and this applies to turbos in general – how important “accuracy” really is. Most of us at this price point probably already have expensive power meters and will be using the power match feature. So as long as these are accurate (or at least consistent) when we are below target wattage on Zwift or TR the resistance should get harder and vice versa when we are above target wattage. Here I have seen massive variability across the smart trainers I have tried. A cheapy cheap Elite Qubo Smart B+ was really good and responsive (but not too responsive, i.e., you don’t rocket up to 600w from 150w in under a second) while the Snap I am about to return was a disaster.

I get what you say about the cheapy, in terms of wattage if you have a PM.

For me, I have a left side only 4iiii, so I always wonder what my true power is. I have a Vortex Smart and the reason I am considering jumping up to the Direto is purely that I want a wheel off trainer because I don’t feel all that steady when I really amp up the effort. When I got the 4iiii and Vortex last year I was pretty new and my power output wasn’t that great. A year of good training has changed that, and I want to feel rock solid when I push, not like I could go flying forward at any second.

Hi RichieMc, personally I see dependable high accuracy in trainer as being valuable because 1) you can use a second bike without a power meter (and I have a few of those…) sitting permanently on the trainer 2) you can use the trainers power to compare with what you get from your bikes power meter so you will more easily notice your bikes (or trainers) power meter losing accuracy… having said that its worthwhile always using the same power meter for consistency.

Hey Ray, thanks for the excellent reviews. I´m thinking of upgrading from my Kickr Snap to a Direct Drive trainer. Would the Direto an upgrade in terms of accuracy and road feel or should I just bite the bullet and get the real Kickr?

After being undecided between the Snap or spend a little extra on a Direto, I thinks this settles it 🙂 My turbo bike is all year round on the turbo, and is used on average 2 times/week, having to spin down every time (and not even be sure if the numbers were accurate) seems to be a way to stressful.

While elite continue to implement their resistance at 5% gradient like levels of inertia I just have no interest in them. People querying ‘road feel’ are on to the right track. The neo can simulate almost road levels of inertia and hence I can hold my tight hip angle tt and tri position like on the road. Lazily engineered efforts from elite and most others have my legs begging for mercy at the same wattage. Erg mode is particularly bad for this. Not an issue on a road bike but I can’t understand why only tax have made a serious stab at this. Discounting crazy stuff like the lynx.

People obsessed with Erg mode due to concern over hitting wattage intervals precisely are missing the wood for the trees IMHO.

Traditionally elite have always had abysmal inertia to their trainers. 300w say on the flat with a tailwind feels dramatically different to 300w into a headwind on a climb. Their trainers have always felt like the latter. Stevenage irwin the UK tter did a lot of work on this mapping kinetic energy VS wattage and gave feedback to the tacx folk who I believe then implemented ‘tri’ mode on slope on the neo. Meanwhile elite make trainers than an average cyclist has to use in the inner chain ring. The higher inertial load makes cycling at a tight hip angle much much easier. Hence why I can do hours on my neo or Kurt kinetic with big wheel but after 10mins on an elite I have to sit up at the same wattage.

If you compare a cheap $200-$300 Tacx trainer to a cheap $200-300 Elite trainer, yes, the road feel isn’t as awesome at all. But on both brands once you clear $899 and above, they are totally different beasts.

Depending on which Turbo Muin you have (some are electronically controlled, others aren’t). But yes, it’ll be different. With an electronically controlled trainer you set the wattage based on apps/devices, versus a fluid/mag trainer, it’s based on a set power curve.

Still considering whether to do an upgrade since I ordered the Assioma… and hope I can sell the Turbo Muin (not smart, serial 30000+, with a Misuro+). Any idea what a realistic price would be? I paid around 450e, that of course doesn’t set the market value. Around 250e or maybe 300?

Does anyone, other than me, have problems contacting CleverTraining UK via email? I’ve been trying to cancel my direto order for two days now but there have been no feedback yet. I hope I didn’t end up in a spam box.

I just purchased an Elite Direto smart trainer. I seem to remember reading detailed instructions on how to set it up to use with Zwift with a large television monitor instead of a laptop. I recall using a dongle was necessary. Unfortunately, I can’t find the article. Does anyone remember this article? I believe it was on this website or possibly the Zwift website. Thank you.

To clarify, you will be using a laptop, and you want to know how to output to a TV screen? If you’re laptop has an HDMI port you can go that route (there may be a dongle involved). If no HDMI port, there is a dongle that makes the conversion for you.

I used my iPhone and output (screen mirror) to my TV with an Apple Lightning to AV Adapter (Shane Miller has video(s) about this on Youtube).

Great review again! What I’m curious about, and it’s maybe more a more common question about direct drive trainers, is how these perform at lower speeds. It states that it can produce 1400W at 40 kmh, but what are these numbers at lets say 10-15 kmh? The same holds for the maximum incline, as this is just a conversion of the maximum wattage at a certain speed. In other words, is there some sort of working range figure (wattage versus speed) for the direto?

I’m also interested in this. Could someone owning a direto give us the maximum wattage the trainer can deliver at, for example, 8km/h, 10km/h, 12km/h, 15km/h and 20km/h? I would really appreciate it cause that data can help people igure out the maximum slope the trainer can simulate for their particular weight. Thanks.

If it helps I asked Elite about max wattage at 30km/h which basically equates to 50rpm in 52/11 gearing. My thought process being that’s close to the lowest cadence I’m likely to be able to sustain on a climb. At that speed they state 990w, so realistically you should be able to mimic any climb you’ll be capable of doing.

Thanks Andrea, that is exactly what I was looking for. From the curve and using interpolation one can approximate the power for any desired speed and then, using any bike calculator and the weight of bike+cyclist, the maximum slope the trainer can simulate. Lee Sutton, I agree with what you say but my question concerned the simulation of climbs at the true speed real climbing takes place. Using high gearing (and therefore high speed) almost any trainer is valid (at least for my poor physical capacity) to simulate climbs. Thanks to both.

If fact, observing the curve for the elite drivo, one can see that i can deliver 460w at 10km/h whereas at that speed direto can deliver only 197w. The difference between them is huge at those low speeds.

Andrea, fromlink to bikecalculator.com and a total weight (bike+cyclist) of 80kg, climbing at 10km/h a 8% slope requires 200w (more or less the 196w Elite Direto can deliver). Therefore, for me at 10 km/h Direto can only simulate 8%. As another example, at 12km/h it delivers (using linear interpolation) 274w, which again for 80kg results in a simulation of 9%. So it seems the simulation of 14% is either for very light riders or for very powerful riders who can climb very fast. In fact, in order to simulate a slope of 11% I would need to be able to climb at 19 km/h (536w) which, of course, is totally imposible.

Yes it is correct……but it’s for this reason that there are premium trainer 😉

Anyway i found that for ERG mode it’s not an issue at all, you have plenty of power to fight against and in simulator mode I never found nothing near 14% of slope. Look…..if you want to climb some 14% slope you have to train in ERG mode before 🙂

This is great info! To make an even better comparison, does anyone have this same data for Tacx Flux? I don’t really understand why this is not part of any review out there, as the maximum wattage as a sole number is not that informative.

Testing it personally would be tricky, since it’s not always super clear when you hit that envelope. Meaning, it’d be difficult to know whether the trainer is faking the higher grade, since most people wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between 8% and 10% while indoors without context (changing between 8% and 10% sure, but not if it’s the whole lobster slowly boiling in a pot thing).

Yes of course, in my mind you can ask to the companies their data and at the least you can do a reverse engineering with a separated power meter, to confirm their data, for example from 8km/h to 14km/h with step of two km/h, but really it’s only an idea. What it’s important for me is that I can see the characteristic of a trainer at very low speed. It’s a kind of data very useful to see the capacity to simulate a real climb.

I would agree it’s a very important piece of information for those looking at low speed efforts (such as climbing sims) – it’s certainly what guided my last choice of trainer as that scenario was one of the main reasons I got a smart trainer. Tacx used to have a couple of brake characterisation graphs like the Elite ones up on the product pages, certainly for the Genius and believe one other at least – can’t see them now on the new style site alas – might be worth asking if they still have them…

Edit.

There is a small amount of stuff in the trainer comparison document here

I just purchased Direto trainer and have a small problem with initial setup. In My E-Training app (Android version) there is no Trainer sensor calibration option available. Should be in Advanced Configuration manu. Any help? How can I performe calibration?

This is my first time with a smart trainer and I’ve come across some oddities using Zwift. A few days ago, I was unable to calibrate the trainer because the Elite App wasn’t working. I was on the Richmond course and every little change in elevation (changes you couldn’t even visually see) created a very noticeable “wall” in power. The main Richmond climb was a bear, as it probably should be at over 10%. Now, calibration complete, I’m on the London route and on a 5% grade I can pedal up in the 52 big ring several cogs down at 90 rpm with power around 175 watts or so. No possible way I could do that in real life without seriously cranking and shortly dying. I have realism at 100% and the trainer isn’t in ERG mode (made that mistake once). Seems strange?

If you calibrate properly and use Zwift the inclines should translate to expected resistance. I did the KOM on Zwift the other day and I spun in an easier gear and had to give it. My speed would drop to an expected number, then increase as it flattened out or went downhill. I did a workout in ERG mode and when I was in a big gear and the watts increas to close to 400 I couldn’t do it…which tells me it’s working, even if my body wasn’t 😉

To those who have the new Direto and have tested it in ERG mode (trainerroad or otherwise), what has been you experience? I remember that with the more expensive Drivo there were quite a lot of complaints about Drivo overcompensating/fluctuating in ERG mode. Perhaps these have been individual setup cases or maybe this have been solved with Drivo FW upgrade.

My first ride on the Direto using Trainer Road in Erg mode it was slow to respond and didn’t lock in the power like the Wahoo Kickr I was borrowing did. It looked a lot like Ray’s ride on Zwift. At a lower cadence it responded faster but a higher cadences from 100-110 it took a while for the trainer to bring the power back down. I was using the built in cadence meter on the Direto. Not sure if that had something to do with it. I thought I read or saw somewhere that someone said if you naturally spin at a higher cadence you will want to use the cadence meter on your bike.

I did contact TrainerRoad initially because I couldn’t find the calibration function for the Direto in the app. I was having issues with the Elite Android app. They told me it’s not there yet because Elite hasn’t sent them the calibration template and instructions for the spin down speed. When I mentioned the issues with Erg mode the initial thought was that the Direto connected to TrainerRoad as a power meter instead of a smart trainer. I double checked it and it was connected as a smart trainer. I did some tests with both Bluetooth Smart and ANT+ FE-C connections on two different devices. It just didn’t respond and lock in the power like the Kickr I had been borrowing did. TrainerRoad did tell me that they haven’t gotten their hands on a Direto yet to test. Considering TrainerRoad just released the new app and the Direto just hit the market I figure there may be issues on both ends and that TrainerRoad and Elite will work to get them resolved. The other issue maybe in what I’m doing. It’s hard to tell at this point. I haven’t had a whole lot of time to mess with it at this point. Considering the positive reviews that you and Shane Miller gave the Direto I am more inclined to think the issues may be on my end. I just need to spend some time messing with it.

Based on my limited experience with a borrowed kickr snap and my power tap hub, I noticed that the incredibly flat power profile that the kickr was reporting was largely artificial: if I eased up the cadence (and hence the power, briefly), the kickr power profile in trainer road would stay almost completely flat but my power tap (monitored on my edge 520) would show the expected power fluctuations (often quite large). Can you post a screenshot of your trainerroad workout to give us a feel for the magnitude of the power fluctuations while in erg mode?

I am seeing something similar using Xert workout player on a Garmin 520. Want to try myETraining before I point fingers. I do not know if it´s just because the Direto reports actual power with more resolution.

Here is an erg workout from the elite app. In short, there is more variability than you see with a kickr, but I think it is more realistic based on the subtle changes in cadence/power output throughout the interval. Interval average power was within a couple watts of the erg setting.

I went back and looked at the numbers from my test session and just as you experienced they were within a couple of watts of the target power for the interval. The Kickr was always a few watts off as well for an interval. I guess I got to caught up in the nice pretty straight lines that were recorded from the Kickr compared to what the Direto was spitting out. The other factor could be the smoothing rate I was using. I know I set it to 3 seconds in the TrainerRoad App but I haven’t had any luck so far setting it in the Elite app. Is it jus me or are other people having issues with the Android version? I have it downloaded on an Ipad and will try that out tonight.

The Kickr is more or less reporting the resistance setting, not the actual instantaneous power. With trainerroad it always seems to plot unsmoothed data on the large screen but it will post smoothed data on the minimized screen, at least on the PC version.

Just wanted to add a follow up to my perceived issues. I have done several more rides on my Direto with TrainerRoad and everything is working just fine. I have found in Erg mode that it responds best, especially to the recovery intervals if you ride in the small ring up front and somewhere in the middle of your rear cassette. After talking to TrainerRoad it sounds like if riding in the big ring up front the trainer reaches its minimum resistance and the only way to bring the power down to match the interval is to really slow down your cadence. Since I’ve shifted down to the little ring I have had no issues with the trainer responding to the appropriate power setting.

I’ve been using TR, ERG mode, and I’m also using small ring in the front and middle of the cassette and find that everything works well. It’s funny, I was going to try the big ring yesterday, and didn’t, and now I won’t…thanks.

I weigh 100kg and I can’t put out more than 400w at low cadence for more than a minute or two. The Direto can provide (on 52/11 gearing) over 900w at 50rpm so it has plenty of head room for any climb I could ever contemplate attempting.

Speed on an indoor trainer genuinely shouldn’t matter as really you want to train by power and duration at specific cadences.

Yes, technically when you use as certain % slope it won’t be as per the real world for anyone other than the rider they’ve modelled it on but that isn’t what power based training is about. Zwift make their own speed calculation so all the slope does in there is effectively control your cadence. So if you want to make a climb harder (i.e. lower cadence) just don’t do it in your lowest gear.

Has anyone found an app with *free* ERG based workouts, where you select from a library and it controls your trainer? I know of TrainerRoad ($), and will try it once winter settles in…but for now I’m looking for a free app that I can use indoors, for time periods where I’m typically riding outdoors (a few times per month). I went through DC’s trainer app guide, but a couple didn’t seem to pair with anything but the Kickr (such as Hurts Ergo). I’m looking for something with a searchable library, that is easy to use; I don’t even want the rides to be downloadable or anything, just simple to use and good interaction with the Direto.

Ray, the power graph in Zwift in ERG mode that you posted (link to media.dcrainmaker.com) looks REALLY choppy. Did you have it set to Instant interval vs 3 second smoothing? Were you just messing around constantly increasing/decreasing your RPMs? Or holding same RPMs? That last 10 min segment is all over the place. I’ve got a Tacx Bushido currently (considering upgrading), and its much much much smoother. Of course I HATE the spin downs on the Bushido, but that’s another story…. but cringing a little bit looking at how much variation there is in power, with this trainer, and zwift ERG mode…..

Beginning looks ok, then at some point graph got shifted. Not sure how to fix that, offset would move entire length and make it look even worse.

On side note old printer sound is present, but with drive train and fan noise I couldn’t hear it during the Zwift session. I’m hearing some creaking noise, but I think it sounds more like it coming from bike, not trainer

Thanks for the great review! Unfortunately I have an issue with my Direto for which I hope to get some suggestions here.

In Zwift I can’t pair the Direto as a controllable trainer over bluetooth. It does seem to pair as a classic trainer with speed sensor. The power meter and cadence sensor of the Direto work fine in Zwift and in My E-Training the controllable features are also working.

Any ideas why Zwift does not see my Direto as a controllable trainer? Do I need the ANT+ dongle for this?

The way Bluetooth Smart works it that if another app is holding the connection open, a secondary app can’t connect to it.

It sounds like perhaps another app (like My E-Training) may be running in the background and holding the connnection app. Double check you’ve killed off any apps that might have connected, and to be triple sure, I’d toggle airplane mode briefly and unplug the trainer and re-plug in.

Thanks Ray. I actually read this Zwift support article, but I thought this was only about connecting directly from the trainer to a PC over bluetooth (as opposed to bridging it through an android device). Still don’t really understand why Zwift doesn’t support this, but I’ll just go for the ANT+ unit.

That’s what I did too. Also, depending on how far your PC is from the trainer you might need usb extension cable. I’m using my Home Theater PC for Zwift which is in media cabinet about 6 feet away from Direto, and signal was dropping quite often. With extension cable no more drops

I got this reply from the Zwift team. Seems it is supposed to work, except for an issue with ZLM for soms users.

“We have tested the Direto without any issues; however, there are some issues with the Android version of ZMLnot connecting all sensors that has affected some of our users which we are currently working to resolve. We have recommended using an ANT+ dongleas a workaround.

If you have one, try searching for your trainer under both Power and Controllable Trainer using that protocol, and let me know how it goes!”

That’s my understanding. I’ll check in the morning to see where they stand exactly. But I know they’re in constant contact with Elite on it (almost daily), so usually the site is pretty accurate there.

My Direto was delivered yesterday. Set up was indeed easy, and my first foray into cassette removal from a wheel and installation was not hard. So that was all good.

Coming from the Tacx Vortex, the difference is astounding. Way quieter. And WAAAAAY more solid and stable when you’re on the bike. This alone is worth the additional cash outlay.

I will say in my initial ride this morning I struggled with a couple things. 1) Trainer road found the trainer fine, but every time I tried to calibrate the trainer the app froze. I tried to calibrate on Elite’s app as well and the same thing happened. I tried probably 8 times to no avail. I did my workout anyway and the power number seemed plausible even without calibration. I’d like to know how to calibrate with my Elemnt if possible.

2) I connected it to my Garmin 935, and it sent speed numbers over (which I don’t care about in general) that were really strange. It said I was going 125 miles an hour. Not sure what that was about.

Not about this trainer, but the Magene Gravat. Ray, please please please get one and test. Apparently it’s ”half the cost of a kickr”, although I find that it’s about 75% of the cost of a Kickr (maybe my google shopping skills are poor today).

If this is the start of Chinese designed smart trainers bringing the price down, this could be huge. At 75% of the kickr cost, I think I’d still buy a Kickr-2017 for 20% off in a sale, but if it truly can be found for 50-60% of the cost and you give it your blessing … well, that’d be it for me.

Ray or others with some experience here. I have the left side only 4iiii precision on my bike and have now ridden on the direto twice. I love the direto. Would you trust the power numbers from the direto more than the 4iiii? Both have been offset and the direto runs ~10-15 watts higher when (255 on the 4iiiii v 265ish on the direto).

Ray, have you been able to get accurate speed numbers with the Wahoo Elemnt and the Direto? My speed numbers are about 12.1 times higher than they should be on my Bolt because of how Elite handles the wheel circumference parameter. I’ve emailed with Wahoo Support and they say that they do not support configuring manual wheel circumference for fitness sensors. Any advice to get accurate speed numbers until Wahoo can implement a fix?

I’m having the same issue with the speed readout when pairing the Direto and the Elemnt Bolt. I’ve corresponded with Wahoo support and they’ve replied saying they just got their hands on a Direto and will provide a fix in the next couple weeks

That I would share a ‘fix’ I did to my set-up to help with leveling the saddle.

For the roadies out there who would have found that when their bike is mounted there is a downward slope on the saddle, and who also found that the standard front wheel riser block (I have the elite travel block) over-compensates and ends up with a nose-too-far-up saddle, I’ve done the following…

My bike trainer is in the basement, and I’ve always had a thin carpet (think ‘hallway’ carpet) beneath a yoga mat. To get my riser block a little lower, I cut out a piece of carpet and yoga mat where the block sits. Now it’s sitting inside the cut-out, a few mm lower, and as a result the saddle position is same as when the bike is off the trainer.

Got my unit from CTuk yesterday. Only had time to take it out of the box and have a go at plugging it in. Looks like I got one of the oldschool printer variants. Is pretty loud but I suspect once drivetrain and fan noise come into the question, it will be drowned out.

Ray, I have an Elite Direto connected to a MacBook via Bluetooth. I want to calibrate the Direto using Zwift. I recall reading somewhere that I can only calibrate in Zwift using an Ant+ connection (apparently a wrench icon will appear next to the pairing button if I have an Ant+ connection. I am not seeing a wrench with my Bluetooth connection). Is this correct? If not, how do I calibrate using the Zwift app? If it is true, which specific dongle (make and model) do you suggest?

Steven, Shane Miller (GPLama) in his latest youtube video on the Direto says to calibrate it once using the Elite app on your phone and you’re good to go for a couple of months. He would know.. he’s one of the top “Zwifters” out there.

I agree with Shane. I see virtually no need on the Direto to do so every session.

(Which yes, goes against my general guidance. So yes, I still recommend doing so occasionally to validate. In both Shane and my cases, we have multiple power meters, so we’d know instantly if something was amiss.)

I have just sent my direto back to madison via the LBS. Initial couple of rides the trainer worked fine. 10 min into the third ride at around 130w at 90 cadence (in zwift) the wattage stared to read 2000w and a knocking noise could be heard from the trainer and felt through the pedals. After jumping off the trainer whined as it spin down. I checked the cassette and 12mm adaptor were tight. Re started and connected to zwift and the same issue. Getting up to speed the trainer started knocking and the cadence reading was 160-odd at no where near that in reality. I could not connect to the app to perform a spin calibration either. I’m unsure if this is an issue anyone else has had but hopefully will be resolved soon.

I just got my Direto today and set it up. After warming it up and doing a calibration and set off to do a TrainerRoad Workout. During the 10 minutes I heard a loud knocking noise from the trainer. I did a couple of intervals and each time I returned to a lower wattage the knocking came back. Very disappointing since the trainer is brand new. Any ideas or do I pack it up and take it back to the bike shop?

Ray – thanks so much for responding I am feeling a bit desperate as I haven’t heard back from Elite support yet.

I took a short video to capture the noise. I showed my Garmin and the power reading because the guys at my bike shop thought that the knocking might be happening when there’s no resistance due to some kind of uneven pedal stroke (which I wasn’t aware I had!) but that’s not the case – it happens when I am putting down constant power. Here’s the file:

Unless you stick a ping-pong ball in there (or your kids put something else inside), it sounds like some sort of manufacturing or shipping-damage related defect there.

Given I think you’re in Canada, it’d be best to simply skip dealing with Elite and go straight back to the store you got it from for a return. Certainly could reach out to Elite, but my guess is that’s where they’re direct you.

I just wanted to follow up on the outcome. Elite customer service was very responsive and sent me a warranty replacement. It came direct from Italy to Canada so it took a week or so in transit but I can’t complain about that. So far the new unit is working as expected and I am very pleased.

Ordered via Clever Training UK. The positive review and the price differential to the Neo relative to features were the deciding factors

This will replace my Tacx Flow circa 2011. Spent sometime trying to establish if I would get an reduction in noise levels but couldn´t find anything definitive. Am assuming at worst it will be no noisier. If anyone has any experience please let me know.

I preordered the Direto on CT UK, with the code to support your site! While it was in shipping the price dropped significantly on Athleteshop (516£).

I first asked CT.com if the UK site could do some kind of price guarentee, I talked with “Paul” who said to me that I should just send them the link. I mailed CT UK with the link to the better price. They didn’t mail me back until today when the unit arrived. The answer they gave me was that a price match couldn’t be done. Now I’m kinda angry and I feel cheated.

So just to you and everybody else CT service isn’t what it looks like. Just buy from another store which want to help you even after the purchase.

Hmm, I’m not sure why Paul said that to be honest. CT generally doesn’t do price matches. You can get the DCR discount (which is 10% off in the UK/Europe). As for Athleteshop, they won’t have them in stock for another month at that price. And that assumes their shipment is on time/etc.

To be honest, I wouldn’t expect CT Europe to chase every last online site in Europe on pricing, especially ones that don’t have stock. As you probably know, many shops in Europe take a loss on some items to up-sell other items. It works for some, and then plenty others go out of business. Ultimately, I’d prefer CT figure out their place in life without going out of business trying to sell stuff at a loss.

Still, sorry for the confusion from the rep – but generally speaking people tend to be pretty happy with the CT across the board – plus it helps support the site here. Thanks for the support though!

I think I have to send back my direto. The resistance is not held when I go uphill the power drops suddenly from 320W to 150W and then up again. At intervals too, suddenly no resistance. Once the coach stopped at Zwift completely and muttered only. After 10sec, he went back. Driving is not going well, because he constantly down-regulates the resistance, uphill.

You are obsessed. Let it go. If the price difference means so much to you just send it back, wait another month and go for the cheaper option. Nobody cares about your price match tales or whether CT uk are “manning up” for you.

Just wanted to get your opinion on the level of comments about issues with the Direto. Overall it seems to be positive but there a few comments on defective units and calibration issues etc. In your opinion (don’t worry I won’t hold you to it 🙂 ) would you say it’s perfectly normal levels given such a popular (i.e. high sales volume) new product?

I think anytime in consumer electronics there’s a failure rate (usually accepted as 3-7% by time it reaches a consumer). When it comes to shipping heavier items, that can be impacted by shipping as well (as seen with the original KICKR).

In terms of issues with Direto, they seem abnormally low actually. I believe most of the ‘calibration’ issues aren’t actually Elite issues, but just 3rd party apps getting caught up more than anything.

Quick question about setup with Zwift. I am using PC and Zwift mobile connect through my Android phone via Bluetooth. I can’t get it to show up in Zwift as a controllable trainer. Is it possible at all to connect through Bluetooth as a controllable trainer thank you

I’ve used it twice so far with the free month trial. I did the FTP test, and a 1hr15m interval workout (on ERG mode). I like the TR app, it works perfectly on my iPhone, which is just beneath my TV (watching Netflix). The cadence seems accurate, and I was able to keep to the target power without much thought. I love the ‘set it and forget it’ feeling to the platform (no shifting, pick the cadence you want and the trainer adjusts resistance). The Direto was very solid, and with earbuds in I didn’t hear anything from the trainer.

Hi – I’m just curious….all your images are of the drive side of the Direto – there are none of the non-drive side. It’s kind of like trying to find an image of the “non drive” side of a bike. In my case, I’m trying to get a sense of the clearance on the non-drive side for frames with disc brake calipers, which is the case of my bike (Spesh S-Works Tarmac disc 2016) are inboard of the dropouts.

I believe you mentioned you had to fiddle a bit to get the bike “straight” on the trainer ? It looks like if my rear pads are not horizontal, even without quick release the bike is not sitting parallel. Maybe the foto explains what I mean. I also need to try another bike…?!

Hi! I´m a real newbie to cycling but due to certain circumstances (deteriorating vision) I probably will start training on an indoor bike. This Direto trainer seems like a very good choice. However, it seems like all direct drive trainers (which is what I´m going to get) are only compatible with cassettes with 9-11 speed. These on the other hand seems only to be available on more expensive bikes. Since I´m not going to use my bike much outdoor, I thought I could by a cheap bike and put the money on the trainer which is where I will see a difference. Anyhow, do you think it is possible to use a cheaper bike that is delivered with a 7 or 8 speed cassette if I have a 9, 10 or 11 speed cassette on the trainer. I understand that I will only be able to use as many gears as the bike is supposed to have but is it possible to get the above configuration to work, considering chains and so? Would make it much easier to find a cheap second hand bike. Just thought that with all your experience, you might have some input on the subject. Thanks for all the useful reviews anyhow.

Riding indoors if you have a vision problem is a good idea. Though with a dedicated riding buddy maybe you can ride outdoors safely.

You have a few things to think about if setting up your indoor experience for the first time. The bike is key, and the fit should be paramount. A steel or aluminum frame bike with 9 or 10sp cassette should be very inexpensive (like an entry level Trek or Giant from the last decade). I’m thinking around 350-500. I would get it tuned up too. To make good use of the trainer there are various apps (Zwift and TrainerRoad as examples), these cost 10-12 per month (TrainerRoad is $99/year). There is also a fan, TV, etc. The Direto is probably the most expensive of your purchases!

Thanks for the input Jason. At first I was hoping to be able to use one of my old racer bikes from around 1990 with 5sp cassette but that does not seem to be possible so I was hoping/aiming for something in a price range which is almost identical to what you mention (although converted to Swedish “kronor” ) but so far I haven had any luck (but on the other hand I haven’t been looking for so long time yet). Will keep my eyes open for the brands you mention. I ordered the Direto today so hopefully I’ll find something in a not to far future. A fan is something I haven’t thought about before but come to think of all the very “wet” spinning sessions I had, it might be well invested money.

A crucial point is the OPTICAL in the OTS name. As there is no strain gauge, there is no source of heat, and so in addition to not needing recalibration, the OTS has no need for temperature compensation. Something which has been independently verified by German test labs, and which Elite are very proud of:

I’ve been using my turbo in Andorra on the balcony with -15°C and surely no need for a heater just 1 thermic underwear shirt.

thanks for the reply. I guess i’m also wondering about the internals (like belts or whatever). Like a car needs to warm up from a cold engine. Since a trainer technical doesn’t warm up, will it shorten the live of the trainer running it in the cold?

I would think that Elite Support personnel may have something to say about using their smart trainers below a normal indoor temperature. Especially if you take the trainer inside from the cold, there could be potentially damaging levels of condensation on the electronic components or boards, if the air inside is humid. (It does not take that much humidity to condensate if the unit goes from cold to warm air).

While I haven’t seen anything specific to ‘normal’ temperature ranges in terms of calibration required on the Direto specifically, I’d think that -20C and any swing after that would be of concern.

Remember, it’s not so much the ‘current’ temperature that’s a problem for calibration, but rather, the change in temperature/warm-up. Further, it matters more for certain types of trainers than others (less for Direto, but again, not sure on that massive a swing).

Someday, in a DCR Cave V2 or V3, I’d like to have a temperature chamber to test some of these things. But today I lack said space.

I’m beginner cyclist. Can i really feel difference between Tacx Neo and Elite Direto. Can i feel that gap in price? Is it worst it to invest right now to more expensive trainer like Neo? Do you think during blackfriday or christmas it will be some discount on Direto?

Elite’s OTS is very much a strain gage: it is a gage* that measures torsional strain.

What Elite means to say is that their trainers use no resistive foil strain gages. That might sound like a petty distinction, but it matters: it’s roughly like saying that your hydraulic-disc-braked bike has no brake calipers. It absolutely does have brake calipers, just not the cable-actuated rim-grabbing kind.

There may be a language barrier here, so I’m inclined to cut Elite a little slack. Their occlusion-based torque sensor is less sensitive to thermal changes than foil-type strain gages, but it’s not athermic (not remotely). Optical strain gages absolutely benefit from thermal compensation, just not as much as foil gages do.

By the way, Titaniumgeek.com gets it wrong: strain gages don’t add significant heat; the problem is that temperature changes alter the strain reading from the gage unless thermal compensation is implemented. Plus, there’s a huge source of heat: the resistance to the rider’s effort! That heats up the OTS and, yes, changes its accuracy.

This is specialized information, and gear bloggers can’t be expected to have this knowledge. But IMHO, Elite’s marketing department is crossing the line from “spin” to “deception” in some of the information they’ve provided to the press.

*Engineers spell it “gage.” The rest of the word writes “gauge.” This is basically a professional shibboleth, and kind of a silly one. But in an engineering context, it’s correct to spell it “gage.”

To be fair to Elite, those were James’ words and Elite just refer to having a torque sensor. I’d also be inclined to cut some slack here as well, given the audience.. from an engineering perspective we know this torque sensor is a type of strain gauge – as is a spring – but it seems reasonably obvious what he getting at (sloppy wording, agreed).

As for spelling, this may be part geographic (or influenced from). As a Brit, in the times when my path as crossed the more engineering-oriented ones, i’ve never used or seen ‘gage’ used locally – always ‘gauge’. I’ve seen ‘gage’ in some US mechanical engineering papers but we more typically hang onto the French influenced spelling of things, alas.. I feel sorry for anyone having to learn English as a foreign language.

Thanks for your input, Tim. You’re probably right about “gage” being an affectation of American engineers. I much prefer “gauge” but I write “gage” when my audience is other US-based engineers.

I’d call bending that isn’t symmetric “asymmetric bending,” but mechanical engineers (at least in the US) prefer to say “unsymmetric bending.” My inner grammarian—a pedant without equal—cringes at welding the Proto-Germanic “un-” prefix to the Greek-rooted “symmetric” when the Greek alpha privative (“a-”) is totally a thing. But heck, archaeologists don’t talk about pottery shards; they talk about pottery sherds, which they pronounce as spelled. Well, à chacun son goût.

Regarding what is and isn’t a strain gauge, we basically agree. But it annoys me that Elite claims that they don’t need thermal compensation because they don’t use strain gauges. It’s like when Doc Brown in “Back to the Future” who said, “Where we’re going, we don’t need roads!” If he really meant that they don’t need roads paved with asphalt but they did need roads paved with concrete, then the reality isn’t nearly as cool as the claim.

‘asymmetric’ – with you all the way on that 🙂 The quark ‘Kwark’ vs ‘Kwoork’ battle was the one that used to drive me round the bend…

Regarding the Elite OTS, i’ve not seen any details on the sensor itself but can believe that it’s robust against temperature variations found in typical usage – not totally immune to temperature induced effects for sure, but there’s some clever optical sensors that might fit the bill (quadrature encoders I believe, i’d have to check with someone who actually knows). I think using the expansion on the leading and trailing edges of a metal encoding tree / disc to effectively ‘cancel out’ the thermal variance might have legs as well. I’m not saying Elite use either of those, but there is stuff out there that doesn’t suffer from the type of temperature induced strain offsets you get with foil sensors. I’d really would like to know more about their design but i’ve not yet dug deep enough to find the papers and submissions.

As for Doc, well reckon he meant they don’t roads due to the fact that the car could fly and go straight up and down 🙂 Have fun and keep fighting the good fight with grammar.

I have to tell you guys, the printer noise is really annoying (to me). It is not quiet. I am replacing a Tacx Bushido with this, and am questioning if it was the right choice. Bushido is/was quieter. That’s probably my biggest gripe. Oh, and hills on zwift seem tougher on the legs now 🙂

Are you wearing headphones and/or listening to music? I’ve been using the trainer a lot with TrainerRoad lately, and on ERG mode the adjustments to resistance (with some degree of buzz) are frequent, and I honestly do not hear it. I’m wearing headphones while watching Netflix, and I’m running a fan (though it isn’t particularly loud). I’ve used Zwift too, and cannot imagine riding for 1-2 hours and not listening to something…

I agree about the hills! I did the epic KOM the other day and didn’t know anything about it…so to me it kept going and going as I was expecting something shorter. I was in my easiest gear…but I’m a wimp 🙂

Just bought the Direto, having sent my Tacx Neo back after numerous problems, and have to say I’m blown away by how good it is. Feel is great, and very solid. Adjustable legs make it great if floor is uneven and means you can get out the saddle with confidence. ERG and Zwift modes are awesome and response seems much quicker than other smart trainers I have had. I have one really small weird problem, when I’m connected to my Garmin headset. I use the speed/cadence sensor option so I can record distance, and somehow it thinks I’m doing about 177mph? Any ideas what this could be? I reckon its the size of the wheel configured in my Garmin 1000, but don’t know what this should be? Its normally 2050 or 2070mm, which I think is the issue?? Any suggestions? (Although it is making my Strava and Garmin Activities look quite good 😉

Question about power smoothing, how long it took you to complete it? I started and tells me don’t stop pedaling until told so, but after few minutes I don’t get anything so I stop, For Trainer calibration using the phone its does it in 20 seconds or less. Using PC via ANT+ it forgets me, so I use my phone. My personal observation: In general I think folks with apple product are having somehow easier time, as they are connecting via Bluetooth directly . I have a PC and I dont understand why Zwift/myTraining application cant connect via Bluetooth directly but I need my phone(unless I am using ANT+ dongle for PC). For me Bluetooth is Bluetooth, you either work or don’t work.

1. Compared with my P2M Type S, it’s about 10% high, always, and I’ve calibrated it several times to be sure. My P2M is consistent generally on RPE vs. my Ultegra Stages on another bike, so I’m thinking the Direto is generous. Any thoughts?

2. It has a rumble vibration, mild until the flywheel really gets going, not ERG mode, where the trainer vibrates the bike and the floor. As if the flywheel is out of balance. Any experience or notice of that? I’ve sent both CT and Elite e-messages to see what they suggest.

Otherwise, it’s quiet definitely, not terribly hard to set up or carry, and fun. It seems to work well with TrainerRoad and Zwift, but I’m not sure how well the resistance magnets adjust for small incline changes. Some of the free MyE-Training “real” videos show climbs, “Col de la Madeleine” for example showing some pitches above 20% for brief periods but the resistance doesn’t really change reliably over a small single digit grade. Does make noise, doesn’t feel consistent with grade. Maybe it’s because the free one’s suck. TR and Zwift felt better, but still the Swift resistance changes were usually sudden.

That being said, I also have the “rumbling vibration“ at some speeds. Something in the Direto seems to be a bit out of balance. It’s not really bothering me, even gives a more realistic “road feel” ;). It’s been pretty stable for the first 500km, but if it gets worse I’ll definitely contact Elite.

Have any of you received a response regarding vibration / rumbling? I picked up one of these trainers and it’s quite noticeable from the seat and handlebars. It’s definitely not uncomfortable, but it it’s noticible if I hit an acceleration I can feel it pick up and get faster, and when coasting you can really feel it. It’s not strong enough that I notice much when I’m doing a ride and not thinking about it….sort of like a chip seal road but not as violent….like riding a mountain bike over pea gravel. I’m not worried about it “bothering me” necessarily but would be curious if it’s a bad bearing or out of balance flywheel, as I’d prefer to replace now if it’s not normal or could be an issue later on. On the other hand, I did try a Wahoo Kickr direct mount at the local shop and it felt about the same…so perhaps it isn’t out of the ordinary.

My Direto also reads 10% higher compared to a 4iii Elite support insisted that the Direto is accurate in email to me but now there are so many posts reporting the same issue! Time for Elite to look into the issue properly.

I have elite direto and have noticed that ERG control bia bloototh smart and my 5th generation iPhone does not work if the trainer just “wakes up” by pedaling. I have to unplug it to get ERG to sync with trainer road, and I don’t think it has worked correctly with zwift either. Anybody having this issue/ know whats up ??

I’d really love to know if the Direto is compatible with the Cube C68 frame (2016 version, the one Andreas Raelert rode in 2015 Hawaii Ironman). I bought this bike and tried to put it on my Elite Turbo Muin, but it didn’t fit, because the chainstays hit the casing of the trainer. Can anyone help me out here?

Great review! Bought one on your recommendation and am thoroughly enjoying it so far. Got 20% off plus my points at Performance. Feeling pretty good about that!

Quick question, do you recommend a riser block for this unit? I was thinking with the wheel off it s/b level but it doesn’t feel right. I guess I can pop a level on it next time to see for sure, but was wondering if you have an opinion.

BTW, my only critique is that it’s a bit tricky getting it mounted without having to manually guide the chain. The flywheel body is a bit wide. Could just be my bike, but thought I’d mention it.

first of all thank you for the great review, was a huge help in deciding which trainer to buy!

Received the Direto yesterday and the first impression is good so far. But I’ve also encountered some problems connecting it via Bluetooth with my iOS devices (no ANT+ stick et). Although it’s connected via bluetooth, the ERG Mode does not work properly sometimes. Are there some known problems?

Example: I connect it in TrainerRoad on my iPad Pro: ERG Mode does not work (no “old printer sound” –> no adjusting of the resistance). Then I disconnected everything, started TrainerRoad on my iPhone (7+) and ERG Mode worked. I tested this several times on the devices, sometimes ERG mode worked, sometimes not.

Is there anything that could be blocking the communication between trainer app and the Direto? Some processes in the background?

Hi Ray, Ordered Direto from your recc site, received discount, fast free shipping, great customer service. I love this thing! Thank you for all you do, I was a little overwhelmed with the different types of trainers until I found your site. Thank you for all you do, I check your site daily now, god stuff??

Quick question Ray – with all the testing you’ve done on these direct drive trainers, I’ve not seen you mention any adjustments to the rear derailleur when you go from bike to trainer. My bike is a 2017 Specialized Tarmac Di2 disc. When I mount it on the Elite Direto – it shifts beyond the largest cog (I’m using an Ultegra 11 spd 11-28T cassette on the trainer) causing the chain to come off on the inside at which point the derailleur is hard against the side of the trainer. Have you seen this? Will adjusting the low limit screw on the rear derailleur be enough? Of course, I hate messing with my rear mech beyond adjusting the indexing – I’ve read that over adjusting the rear mech can cause battery drain and/or damage to the shifting motor. Unlike you, I don’t build bikes…I rely on my LBS to do that. Any advice from your experience?

Same issue with Novatec hubs on SRAM 11-speed cassettes: one on the wheels and one on the trainer. The trainer seems to be mounted outboard (to the outside) by about 2-3mm. I have to adjust the stops every time swap between wheels (outside riding) and the trainer (inside riding).

1st use was easy spinning and “investigate” all the features a smart trainer can offer. Duration approx 40min 2nd use was 8min FTP- Test. Duration approx 70min 3rd use while warm up after 12min: Suddenly unrealistic power data (1000+Watt at 60RPM), Sudden start of bumping noise. Slippery pedal-feeling (like pedaling on ice). By manually manipulating the flywheel it felt like it jumped out of its fixation. I suspect an issue of the driving belt fixation an/or flywheel bracket. Sent back to dealer. New one is on the way.

It happend when my training plan switched from very easy spinning (60-65RMP) to fast pedal (95-100RPM). Both with ~100W. For fast pedal I shiftet to an “easy” gear to make more RPM- 2 sec later the Direto passed away.

Hi Tom, I suggest you contact them at the official email address myetraining@elite-it.com, they are so kind. I made a misunderstanding about the trainer noise, they clarify it. The email contact could help each other and eventually solve any possible problem. Sk

I do the same in Zwift. Directo reports about 10% lower. Who knows if that’s drivetrain lose, left-leg stronger or Stages being off. But I’m with you, I want to have the same metrics as I do on the road

One question: the Direto comes with two cassette spacers… my 5700 10 speed 105 cassette came with one… I installed both spacers from the Direto as per the instructions. Was that correct? Shifting seems a little of to be honest…

I think the important thing is to be able to tighten the cassette so there is no play. If shifting is off, turn the barrel adjuster as needed, and note down the number of runs and direction as needed (for indoor and outdoor).

I used 2 spacers with a 10 speed cassette. It tightens fine with two (not with one), but the shifting is definitely off a bit. I’ve even had the chain shift off the largest cog into the flywheel, but have never shifted into the spokes on my bike. Feels like I need 1 and 3/4 spacers.

One thing on trainer/zwift shifting is I’m far more harsh in my shifts. Getting better, but it’s a different technique.

Barry – I completely agree about harsh shifting in Zwift. This highlighted a few technical issues with my drivetrain that I’ve since resolved. This morning on Zwift I intentionally shifted more gently, with a short soft-pedal on shifts with the big ring, as well as some with the little ring. Also, on very short climbs (esses), if I’m in the big ring, I stay in it and gut it out.

Hi Everybody, i’ve opened a ticket do Zwift that is under analysis by the second level support. My direto seems to respond very slow to terrain incline changes when i’m riding in zwift.

I’ve used the little climb in the metro station on london map and i can feel that the resistance get harder only 2 or 3 seconds after the climbs start ….and i keep to feel the 15% inclination even after 2 or 3 seconds when my avatar is on flat terrain at the end of the climb.

My ant+ dongle, with an usb cable extension is really near the direto.

Mine is fairly similar. I’ve always thought about it as a second or two, but never timed it. It’s not a big deal and it’s easy to adjust to. The spot you mentioned is the only area where it’s *really* noticeable.

Thx for your answer Barry. I asked that because some other guys with the direto seem to not have this issue and even Ray said “For things like responsiveness in sprints or climbs, I’ve had zero issues there with the Direto. It responds as fast as I can throw down the wattage (I top out around 1,000w).

So maybe there is something we can do to make it responsiveness better

Fabio, my experience is similar. 1-2 second delays. During 1 minute intervals, it takes 5-10 seconds to go through 80W to 300 W :-). Especially if I increase cadence at the same time. It seems the trainer tries to both compensate for the increase in power and cadence at the same time, and that takes longer compared to keeping cadence steady and increasing power.

I don’t know enough about the internals of Direto, but I would think they can fix it with firmware. Cmon Elite 🙂

As far as Ray’s comments for responding as quick as he can throw down the wattage, maybe it’s all relative to other trainers in the category and what most (not us truly picky consumers) would find acceptable?

This morning, before a zwift session, i tried a custom workout with trainer road. some short intervals from 50% to 100/110% of FTP. As you can see (i hope) from the picture attached the behaviour of the direto is really good. Listening to the ‘beep’ from the direto it seem that Trainer road start to ‘talk’ with the trainer about 1 second before the interval ends. After 1 second my leg start feelin’ the resistance change and after 2 or 3 second the right amount of watt was reached.

So my problem seem to be a zwift problem..not a ant+ dongle problem (i use the older garmin dongle) or a trainer problem.

As others have noted (and the same in the review), the changes I see on TrainerRoad are lightning quick. That tells you that the trainer is working properly, and any other apps having issues are just that: App implementation issues.

Now, sometimes it’s not actually an issue, but just how an app behaves.

For example, Zwift doesn’t implement ERG mode in the same manner that almost every app does. Most apps implement ERG mode in a strict sense: App tells trainer to hold 350w, and trainer holds 350w, almost spot-on.

But within Zwift workout mode, it gives you ‘play’, so it doesn’t actually hold 350w, but puts you in the ballpark. Personally, I think this is stupid, because on an ERG trainer, that’s the point. Especially since all you do to ‘tweak’ this is simply adjust cadence. So instead you’re busy chasing cadence to ‘fake’ the 350w, rather than just riding at 350w. Sigh…

I purchased a Direto a few weeks ago. It has been a lot of fun using it on Swift but I have found that the power readings from it are inaccurate. I checked the readings using my PowerTap P1 pedals and found that readings from the Direto were on average higher. I tried re-calibrating the pedals and the Direto. Ride after ride I observed the same difference. I borrowed a friend’s PowerTap wheel to check that my pedals were giving correct power readings and they gave the same readings as the wheel.

I contacted Elite and we have exchanged a few emails. In the last email I sent I told them that a 7.6% difference was too large and that I wanted to exchange my Direto for one that gives accurate readings. I haven’t heard back in the last two days. I hope to get a response tomorrow.

I attach a figure of my power numbers during a ride. You can see that the readings clearly differ. Enough for me to be unhappy with the Direto. You can see there that I stopped for a few minutes to re-calibrate everything and it did not solve the problem.

that’s what i’m worried about. I don’t have a power meter on the bike so i have to trust direto power readings.

before the direto i used for years a lemond revolution so the power was estimated with a known power curve. Since i use the direto it seem that i ride at about 10/15 Watt more but i’ve to say that lemond could only simulate flat courses while with the direto i always climb a lot (with zwift). so MAYBE it is one of the reasons i have avg power higher than before.

Have you tried TrainerRoad or another app to see if you observe the same differences?

Also, I see you have PT pedals, can you make the pedals your power meter and allow Zwift to control the trainer (that way the slope affects you, but power is from the pedals). While this isn’t the solution you’re looking for, it may be a good option…for now.

I’ve never used power before and actually I’m not concerned with accuracy, exactly. I would be concerned if one day it’s 1% off and the next day it’s 8% off…that would make comparing riding over time rather challenging. For me, a smart trainer is simply a way to rather enjoy cycling indoors when riding outside isn’t feasible. But I know others would see accuracy as more of an issue based on their needs.

I have the dual P1. I’m confident that the readings from the pedals are accurate as readings from my friend’s PowerTap wheel were the same.

I have been using the power readings from the pedals in my last few rides on Zwift. That is not ideal given that I should be getting accurate reading from the trainer.

I’ve been in touch with Elite. Tomorrow, they will remotely access my computer to do some tweaks to the trainer. I’m not too comfortable giving remote access to my computer. They did not tell me exactly what they will do to the trainer but I thought it was worth giving them a chance to fix the problem. I’ll post an update later.

The tech remotely accessed my computer and connected to the trainer. I could see that he installed a small software that allowed him to edit what looked like the parameters of a polynomial function. I’m not an engineer but I guess that is the function that maps the readings from the power meter into watts. The tech was able to do that because I had sent an excel file that showed the power readings from my PowerTap pedals and the Elite Direto. I’m guessing that they used the readings from my pedals re-estimate the polynomial.

I attach a figure that compares wattage from the two power meters. They are now very close, especially after I re-calibrated everything around the middle of the ride. I’ll test a few more times and post and update if the power meter is a problem once again.

Was wondering why my chain keeps drying up using the Direto. On closer inspection I noticed a fine dust all over the cassette and the Direto housing. I guess it’s from some belt wear? Doesn’t seem to be affecting performance in any way except the feeling of a dry chain. Anyone else seen a fine dust coming form within the unit and going all over the cassette?

Hi no rubbing I can hear or see The pic is after one session after cleaning the chain. I did notice on taking the freehub off that it wasn’t screwed tight with the Allen bolt! For my peace of mind I will thoroughly clean chain, cassette and housing and report back. Hopefully tightening the freehub on wilĺ be the cause.

Hi – just purchased a Direto and have been using with TrainerRoad in ERG mode. Problem is that the Direto will not lock in on the target power but rather power ranges in a wide band of 20 – 30 watts. This issue also occurs when using the Direto with the Elite myetraining app, so it is a problem with the Direto and not the controlling app.

I have contacted Elite about this but they haven’t been of much help. Any thoughts on how to correct this issue?

To be clear, if the interval target is 200 watts, what do you see in TarinerRoad as the actual power throughout the interval?

On mine, the actual power I’m putting out will rarely be 200, but will fluctuate all around 200 (green if I’m close, red if I’m outside a range, but only briefly as the trainer adjusts resistance accordingly).

If target power is say 200W, the actual power reading will oscillate between around 170 and 220W. Furthermore, in ERG mode power is sensitive to cadence and if I reduce cadence for a moment, power drops even further to say 150.

Ray, a new problem after about 3 weeks with the direto. usually a ride with zwift but sometimes i use Trainer road or elite app for test or calibration.

this morning i’ve tried my custom workout in erg mode (1′ easy – 1′ hard 5 or 6 times…) and it seem that direto can’t adjust the resistance if i push well above the target wattage.

As u can see in the image, when the interval target is 130 W..if i ride at 200/210W it does not adjust the resistance. It seems that it only adjusts it when i go below the target..such as ERG mode leave me free to go high as much as i can.

It depends on the gear i choose. With the 50x 34 or 14 the problem occuours and the direto can hold the target wattage i specify in the app. But with a 34×16/18 everything in the ERG mode works fine and if i push it at 100W more than the target ..it corrects its resistance as espected in ERG mode.

Got a tacx flux recently and was a little surprised….but if i think about it makes perfect sense….by the wattage floor….on my wheel on vortex, i quite liked riding in the big ring and didnt really experience much of a wattage floor;

considering changing the flux for a direto (can still return the flux) but wondering if the direto has a similar wattage floor, presuming it does as its just the mechanics of it?

flux just cost me £575 and i can get a direto for £660 so have to spend a bit more and have the hassle of sending the flux back

not to worried about the difference in accuracy and have a stages powermeter anyway,

i’m reading a lot about the ‘issue’ in ERG mode with big rings. It seems that ERG mode sucks with the big ring and it’s only usable with smaller rings. My experience, and the one from other guys i’m asking, confirms this. And it seems that the ‘issue’ occours even when the drivo. Many say that the problem is that with smaller rings ERG mode works but the road feel get worse.

During your test with Drivo and direto were u forced to use small rings to obtain that kind of results??

Nah, something is wrong there in your setup somewhere. I’m almost always in the big ring with ERG workouts, and with TrainerRoad specifically. Most of my interval wattages are in the 330-550w range, and no issues.

I’m not quite sure what the problem is in your case (assuming you’re not at some weird cadence like 45RPM or 150RPM), but you might want to start with TrainerRoad and validate it’s not something more innocent like signal dropouts. If you open a ticket with them, they can usually give you data back on your specific workout if there were any trainer control problems.

analyzing a zwift log i saw a 10% signal dropouts but it doesn seem this to be the problem because the trainer ‘receive’ correctly the input from the app. As u can see is not a signal dropout becuase i can keep on rideing at 100W more than the targets for minutes.

When i write to the elite support they told me it was normal and linked me a Shane Miller video where he explained ERG mode.

SO i asked Shane if with direto he was in some way forced to the small ring and this was is answer:

“Is this how ERG should work in general? No. Is it how it works on the Direto, seems so. As above, slowing the flywheel down by changing to an easier gear is sometimes required on the Direto when in ERG mode. It seems both the Direto and Flux (mid range direct drive trainers) operate like this. The flywheel speed needs to be <30km/h for ERG to respond as expected."

Hi, You have to check the curve speed/power That elite posted in the forum and I shared also here…..at certain speed it can’ t handle the resistance (read power) needed by the workout. If you bought a drivo or an neo you didn’t notice the problem 😉

A) The flywheel speed aspect Shane is referring to can be true, but it’s not really a factor at 300w.

B) Zwift ERG mode should be taken with a huge grain of salt, it works different than all other ERG modes on earth. It’s why you end up ‘chasing’ power numbers, as opposed to TrainerRoad and others that apply them to you.

C) What’s your gearing combination specifically? In my TrainerRoad screenshots above with pretty high ranges, I can almost guarantee you I’d done those in the big ring (it comes from years of mental training to be in the big ring on the CompuTrainer to avoid spiral issues).

Hi Ray (and congratulations). I don’t know if it can be helpful for someone else but following is what i found during my latest test (suggested by elite support)

i create a workout with 3′ intervals with increasing target wattages (150,200,250,300 and 350). Gear used 50×14

The first attempt with cadence in the range of 84/86 RPM was fine, direto worked in erg mode.

So i ride a second time the same workout, with the same gear but with higher rpm and here is the strange (for me) behaviour !!

It seems that there is something like a “critical cadence” beyond which direto can NOT make me ride at target wattages.

So for example: the first interval @150W if i ride at more than 95/96 RPM was perfomed at 200W…the second @200W was perfomed at 230 and so on. to ‘broke’ the 250W target i had to push over 100rpms but even in this case i ride at 280/290 without reaction from the direto.

It seem that this critical cadence gets lower when i use a bigger gears.

I can’t explain why but this, maybe, explain why other guys with the direto have not experienced any issue with erg mode.

Maybe this is normal for elite and they’ll answer me ‘everything works well’…

However, I have some problems setting up and would really appreciate some help.

1) The bit that the cassette sits on looks like this….. link to imgur.com is this standard???

2) I don’t think I have received all of the parts required for quick release installation (I don’t seem to have item B or G from the manual which I believe are both required????) I only have the 3 parts in the photo so am confused? or am I missing something obvious? link to imgur.com

Would really appreciate some help/clarity! (I will be contacting elite but find other folk just as helpful)

Hi Ray, Love your site. Try to support you and spend a lot of time here. The Direto looks like a compelling unit, especially at the current 20% off from Clever Training. But, a used Wahoo Kickr, version 1 or 2, can be had for a similar or possibly even lower price. My question is, given better road feel, etc., with the Kickr, would you go for a version 1 or 2 Kickr or a Direto?

Hi. I received my Direto today. This review helped a lot with the decision what to buy. First impression is quite well, BUT I’m struggling with the wheelsize. I’m using the elite app and set the wheelsize to 2094, also in my polar m450. While the app shows 30km/h at a specific cadence and power, the polar shows above 200km/ (or nothing) at same values. Any suggestions to solve this problem?

Hey Clayton I found this on Road CC review of the Direto. The Direto has really impressed me. It offers a smooth and realistic road feel, massive stability for your hardest interval sprints, easy compatibility with a host of training apps, and works with disc brake bikes. It’s a good pick if you want to make a serious investment into indoor training this winter but can’t stomach the £1,000+ price tags associated with the likes of the Elite Drivo, Wahoo Kickr and Tacx Neo.

Thanks Man….Good to hear, since I’ve already pulled the trigger on it….Couldn’t risk missing the 20% off ….. After my post I scrolled around a bit and found 2 photos that were helpful in posts # 312 and 315 above, I believe ….

Have you ordered one?

If not I’ll keep ya posted when I get mine…I’m on a Trek SL 6 Disc btw….

Hey Clayton Yes I ordered one. Backordered : Expected Late December sucks but I saved a lot with the 20% off! I am using a Giant Defy and an a Liv Avail. Will be switching out both every day. Me and the wife.

Could someone clarify why direto resistance is really low on hills in Zwift, i have trainer difficulty set to max, is it perhaps that zwift makes it easier comparing to real life. I’m riding zwift steep gradients in the big ring front..

there is something that does not work in your setup. I have trainer difficulty at about 80% and in watopia climbs i always have to use small ring. When the incline si about 13% or more i have to use something like 34×25 or 24×27.

i don’t think my settings are different from default ones. I’ve only set the trainer difficulty to 80%, every other thing is on default values.

I’ve paired my direto the first time without problems, power accuracy seems to be ok.

Sometimes i do a calibration with Elite app and the resulted value is near the factory value that is written on the sticker under the direto. Elite told me that the value must be +/- 4 from label value. in my case i have 6451 on the sticker and calibration is usually 6449 or 6448.

Like so many others, I really appreciate Ray’s work and this blog, and also CT. Maybe someone also using the Direto can help me understand one of my puzzles with it, particularly in TrainerRoad’s workouts. I’ve used TR off and on for a couple years using virtual power with the “dumb” Kinetic Road Machine — a great old workhorse for what it is. This fall after seeing DCR’s in-depth review (seconded by Shane Miller) I bought a Direto, and was impressed that CT got it here barely a week after the hurricane.

I’ve had fun zooming around Zwift on the Direto (one of the reasons I decided to give the Kinetic to my grandson and try a “smart” replacement). On TrainerRoad, my experience has been mixed. I understood that any smart trainer was going to behave and feel differently in erg mode than what I was used to on the Kinetic — that I wouldn’t have to shift, that in some circumstances I’d encounter the “death spiral”, etc — but figured that even at my advanced years I’d quickly adapt. I’ve gotten a little used to being a lot less in control of my power than on the Kinetic setup, where I could sometimes almost match those perfect ( and somewhat artificial) rectangles you see for KICKRs. On the Direto I’m all over the place, and find it very difficult to hold reasonably steady power. And I honestly don’t know whether it’s me or the Direto. Others here — e.g. fabio, and ari— have also had perhaps related issues, so I thought I’d ask.

In particular, can anyone explain why a properly functioning smart trainer could regularly produce, for instance, graphs of three-minute intervals in which rpms are slowly increasing while power is decreasing? (Provided both power and cadence are in normal ranges and the rider is not only not doing anything herky-jerky or weird, but is doing his best to hold both steady power and steady cadence).

Attached is a screen shot showing this from the Garmin file I made, minus the cooldown, of last week’s Spencer workout on TR. (I can post a shot of the TR file of the same ride if needed.) In this one, cadence is the upper yellow line, and uses a different scale.

The experience is as disconcerting as the graphs are puzzling. Just before the interval, I try to smoothly raise the cadence to the suggested rpm (this workout suggests a little above 100 rpm for the work intervals). There’s a knack to maintaining but not wildly overshooting the cadence as the resistance kicks in over a few seconds — typically the watts are under target for a few seconds, then over, with some fluctuating before things start to settle down. That wobble is not the problem that frustrates me, since it seems to average out. What does is after it settles to the target the power will start to fall a bit even if the cadence has not fallen off enough to register. I apply a smidgen more force to correct this, with perhaps a slight loss of resistance. Rpms move up, e.g. from 101 to 102 or 103. Watts do not; they stay the same, or even decrease! A smidgen more force to counteract this — more of the same. Over the three-minute interval you get that odd inverse relationship you can see best in the third interval: cadence steadily slowly rises while power slowly and steadily falls. At the end of the interval, my average power is well below target! Is that normal for any smart trainer? Any Direto? The practical question is what should one do, if anything, to keep power on target?

It certainly seems and feels to me as if there is some kind of phase problem — where I respond to the trainer and it responds to me, but in such a way that we get more and more out of synch with each other. If I back off enough for a big drop in watts, then resistance does mount, and I do really have to push to avoid a death spiral, and then it predictably eases up as the cadence comes up — and vice versa. It is where I’m trying to hold steady power and cadence, and feel like I am, that this phenomenon occurs. I should add that in the ride shown, I’m also using my 4iii power meter with TR’s Power Match on (auto). Not sure how that figures in.

Seeing as how many of us have yet to receive our Direto’s and our great community here is seemingly more informed and cognitively capable than much of the internet wasteland, what do you make of all these “issues”…? I understand that we’re all beta testers to a degree, as all the possible combinations of gizmos cannot be fully tested… ( DCR who does an insane amount of preflighting on our behalf not withstanding) But……I’d like to know, what’s your opinion on Elites tech support/ dedication to solving these issues individually, and speed of SW/firmware updates, thus far in this new relationship….?

In this particular case I’d wager a few bucks it’s TR’s Power Match causing it. It’s well known to cause issues that enumerate in all sorts of interesting ways. When it works – it’s great. But there are countless cases of scenarios like this that just produce totally ‘unique’ results.

I’d personally reach out to TrainerRoad, as they can pull the logs from the ride and tell you exactly what was happening.

Thanks for reply to a too-long post. Amazing work ethic! And you may be right about the issue. I will do a couple rides sans TR’s Power Match, and if the inverse cadence-power thing continues, I’ll bug TR for their help. Their support ethic is very high too and I don’t want to burn them out on something brand new to them too — esp when what I’ve paid them in 2 years is a fraction what my Italian diva cost. Well, I don’t really blame her yet — could be me, as I said, and wanted to run it by all you folks here first. I’ve seen the Facebook forum but only from outside, since I don’t Facebook. Here’s a link to the Elite forum: link to forum.elite-it.com

Bob C…. Thanks for your very detailed “too (not) long post” and especially that Elite forum link….I don’t do FB either and this is another example of why this DCR crowd is so great to hang around… 2nd that emotion on DCR’s work ethic BTW….(I’m so not worthy)

I’m glad I didn’t bet against Ray on this one. I still have to confirm this with clear and consistent data, but I’m pretty sure the Direto itself is not causing the bizarre ERG mode behavior, and that TR’s Power Match listening to my 4iii left-only is, as he suspected. If I turn it off, and make TR deaf to the 4iii, then if cadence is level, so are watts — at least for one quick and dirty test. I also just bought the full version of Ray’s Comparator software to a) support his gig, and b) make my amateur sleuthing as easy as I can. I’ll report back when the results are clearer. Just cautioning others on the fence that I was hasty in blaming the newcomer — the Direto — for results that likely aren’t its fault.

Excuse the weirdness of replying to my own post, but maybe best to keep my erg mode issue all in one thread. See #449 for the problem I encountered in TrainerRoad workouts with my 4iiii left-only power meter and the Direto both paired, and Power Match enabled (auto mode) so it could try to reconcile any differences between devices. In erg mode that setup produced a weird graph and an annoying struggle to keep power consistent.

What if I disable Power Match and unpair the 4iiii from TR, so that TR uses only Direto data? The screenshot shows last night’s result on the same TR workout (Spencer), minus Power Match and the 4iiii. The power stays basically flat (not falling) during intervals — just as it should — even with my slight creep upward in cadence. More important than a pretty graph, I’m no longer wrestling with the Direto to stay on target. TR is able to get the Direto to do just what it’s supposed to do — subtly modify resistance to keep average power on target at the cadence I’m pedalling. It now feels just right. So it wasn’t just dumb weak me, either.

Direto TR Spencer Dec 04.png

Does this mean TR’s Power Match is worthless? No. It likely works OK in other setups, or TR would have dropped it. And maybe it can work even to control the Direto with a different separate power meter. All I know is that in my case, with the 4iiii consistently reporting 20-30 watts higher (thanks, Ray, for the Analyzer aka Comparator, which verifies this every time), I can’t satisfactorily use Power Match. Don’t know yet what the TR folk are finding with other combos of power meter + Direto.

So then: What about my trusty 4iiii itself as a possible culprit? Well, I simultaneously recorded the same workout above with the 4iiii on my Edge 520, which doesn’t know about the Direto at all. Aha!

4iiii TR Spencer Dec 04.png

This power curve not only shows the 20-30 watts higher on average. It also shows that strange interval shape that led to my first puzzle in #449, where there is an over-target peak at the beginning of the interval, followed by a gradual decline to below-target, no matter what my cadence is doing. In that case, TR was recording the 4iii while controlling the Direto. The shape’s the same. So it’s been the 4iiii all along for that kink. Et tu, Brute?

I don’t know what exactly to make of this. With a left-only power meter the obvious explanation of discrepancies with values from a smart trainer is that the doubling also doubles any left-right imbalance. That is likely part of it, but not all of it — for reasons I won’t get into here. Suffice it to say that my legs don’t look like the lopsided curve above, and I only get a minor imbalance with single leg tests.

The good news is that I can now get workouts on the Direto that feel right. The bummer is that the power numbers from two “highly accurate” sources are currently less than useful as a gauge of my own changes in fitness. I suspect that the 4iiii— for whatever precise reason — has been cooking them way past that hedged +/- 2% claim, and that means that my indoors VO2 max magically becomes my new outdoors FTP! Ta da. No wonder I liked the 4iiii so much last summer. 🙁

Takeaway? (My setup only, in my old man’s range.) TrainerRoad can work fine with my Direto one on one, with Power Match disabled. Zwift likewise. Any measuring device may be certified highly accurate and yet be highly misleading if exactly what it measures and how that is processed downline is not taken into account. For ordinary folk, the power world is still more Babel than lingua franca.

Side note to Ray. I’d have included a public link to the 4iiii / Direto comparison, but for me the public link leads to a blank page in Safari. Well, here it is anyway: link to analyze.dcrainmaker.com.

I setup my new Direto from CT yesterday and I am struggling with the speed reading, showing high values. I know that i have to change the wheel circumference to 173mm on my head unit, but that does not work. (Speed shows OK in Elite Training app with 2096 option and OK too in Zwift). I have a Wahoo Elemnt head unit, which reads extremely high speeds. I use the Wahoo Elemnt utility, go to Sensors and change the default value from 2.096m to 0.173m, but I see no difference on the speed readout in the Elemnt. I also have a Wahoo BlueSC speed/Cadence sensor that i want to use for cadence only. (BlueSC has more accurate cadense than the simulated one in Direto).

I am connecting the Direto to my Elemnt via ANT+ and it shows as FE-C. Ray recommended this option on comments above. When i do that, the Elemnt recognizes the Direto as a “KICKR” trainer and it unlocks the control screens to change resistance etc. But, the freaking speed reads wrong. I do have another option, the BTLE one that reads as “DI” Speed/Cadence, but if I select that, then the Elemnt will not show the “KICKR” trainer screens. What am I doing wrong?

Thank you for reaching out to us! With the Elite Direto Trainer, for speed you need to be able to set the wheel circumference to get accurate speed so bad news is that isn’t a current feature of the ELEMNT. Good news, you aren’t doing anything wrong and we have addressed this issue and it will be a feature soon. I believe it’s going to be released in a software update on or around November 27th. If it’s not in that update then it will be released in the next one (and I don’t have that release date at this time).

So if you can hang tight for me for a few more days, we should have wheel circumference as a feature for the Elite Direto trainers soon and then you will have accurate speed data.

Just setup my trainer last night and was thinking it was defective because of the beeping. I’ve seen other posts where this was considered normal behavior. I have no way of knowing if what I’m experiencing is the same as other users so I made an audio recording with a picture of my setup produced into a YouTube video primarily for the purpose of sharing to audio. It can be found at: link to youtu.be

The recording was done at a distance of 3 feet (~1m) and the only audio post processing was to amplify the entire segment to improve the volume range. Nothing was done to deferentially increase the volume of the beep frequencies.

Is this what others are hearing? I know it’s said to be minor and barely noticeable but even this recording doesn’t express how distracting I’m finding it.

It is normal. It is the stepper motor that adjusts the position of the magnets are the difficulty increases/decreases. Some get the noisier stepper motor, some get the more quiet one. Makes no difference on the performance or functionality of the Direto. You are fine. Enjoy it.

I just ordered my direto and am about to take delivery of the unit. I have heard some pretty negative feedback on the direto facebook group concerning the unit. Your review seemed to be very high on this unit. Did I make a mistake not buying a wahoo kickr?

A) People with actual issues. These are divided into either known issues, or random one-off defects. As with any unit, that sometimes happens. Given the massive volumes of these trainers going out, even 1-3% (normal consumer electronic failure/whatever rate) is still a lot of people. Remember Elite has doubled production and is still looking at January for catching up retailers.

B) People with non-Direto issues that are mistakingly thinking it’s Direto. Examples being not understanding how Zwift Workout Mode works, or using tech like Power Match which is known to cause wonky stuff. These are just two examples, but there are many more here. This isn’t to blame individuals at all, but just being the reality check that in a 3rd party app world and with emerging tech – sometimes mixing drinks doesn’t always work out well.

C) The sound thing: Elite says this is normal, and while I disagree there should be two units, the reality is that it is what it is and it doesn’t seem to bother most people.

I understand that we are all beta testers in that all the possible combinations of gizmos can’t possibly be tested before they release a unit to the public ……but none of the pre- release testers seemed to have encountered any of these issues at least not in the same frequency or intensity that we’re reading about here….just wondering what everybody thinks about the Elites Tech support/Customer Service and follow through ….. I’m just sayin, because my sense is that if you’re here on this site, I tend to think you are more informed and somewhat more technically (and cognitively) adept than the general internet wasteland……annndddd, we have DCR doing more due diligence on this stuff than the friggin manufacturers….. So, is everyone confident that these ‘issues’ are being taken to heart and fixed with the appropriate sw/fw updates or workarounds by Elite?

I had one issue that would fall into “B” on DCR’s above post. It actually turned out to be a Zwift issue, but Elite support was decently helpful in investigating the problem before I realized it was Zwift. They didn’t get back to me in an hour, but a day or two IIRC.

I now have enough miles to be level 11 on Zwift and have done Road Grand Tours a few times. No issues with the trainer. Yes, it makes a noise like a dot matrix printer if elevation profiles change a lot, but there’s plenty of other noises going on – bike, fan, music – that I don’t consider it a problem and would never mention it.

A for zwift because i have a 4/5 second lags that i can’t unerstand and hope zwift support with all my logs will find what’s wrong. i’d like to think that is all due to my old laptop…i

B for the ‘issue’ with erg mode that maybe is not an issue but i’m waiting for elite support response. i’m italian and so elite and maybe this could help. If they told me ‘ok your direto is fine if u want to use ERG u don’t have to pass some rpm’.

But i’m happy with my direto and i hope supports will solve this little 2 things. I’ll let u know if something new happens.

It would have been cool if here and on the FB page, where people raise both good and bad, that everyone’s set-up is presented (like you click my name and see a table indicating all of required info, such as App (Zwift, TR, etc), computer/device (iOS, Mac, PC, Android), pairings, wifi stats, connectivity, etc, etc.)

So far I’ve not had issues, and I wonder if it’s in part due to simplicity: used both Zwift (non ERG mode), TR (ERG mode), and iPhone 6. That’s all. No other pairings or other configurations worth mentioning. I haven’t adjusted any settings, and I’ve only calibrated once since September.

Some people have other devices they’re pairing, head units, older computers that run apps in the background and may be a particular nuisance for Zwift, etc. If someone is coming to smart trainers for the first time, I say keep it as simple as possible, and add complexity if you feel the need, after you’ve got everything dialed in.

As a complete newbie to trainers, what do I need to set the wheel circumference to in TrainerRoad and other apps when using the Direto? I’ve seen conflicting info on the web – is it 173 or up in the 2000s?

Although the technical operation seems fine, the beeping I’m experiencing is VERY distracting and can still hear it clearly above the sound of bone conduction headphones I wear while riding. I know that some units are quieter than others, but this one can exhibit near constant beeping over long stretches. Just glad I haven’t sold by Gen 1 KICKR yet.

Yep….that would get pretty friggin annoying pretty quickly….hope that ain’t normal…I’d kinda be surprised if it was…..are they (the stepper motors) reacting to input from…., like the terrain, in Zwift? Or were you just peddling along with a set resistance ?

It was the West Flanders, BE Part 1 ride from VeloReality. Probably similar to Zwift in that the terrain varies so resistance follows along. The info I’ve read is that the noise is coming from the stepper motors. I’ve put in a support request with Elite, so we’ll see what they say. If it’s termed “normal” the Direto is probably heading back to Clever Training.

Yeah…roger that…if that’s the case, I might change my order…. Maybe wear a belt and suspenders by posting on Elites forum as well….A couple of the guys above did…and the moderator responded to their queries…..

Heard back from Elite. As expected, they say it’s normal operation. Guess I was unlucky getting one of the louder versions. Weird having a product with different versions where customers can perceive it in different ways. Seems like they don’t have an audio spec in sourcing their stepper motors from various manufacturers. It’s true that you have a fair amount of drivetrain noise anyways, but the beep is a significantly higher audible frequency and is sometimes occasional and sometimes nearly continuous. The unit is going back to Clever Training unless someone in the Boston area wants to buy it from me.

Given all the discussion about this point in the comments, it might be helpful for Ray to update the review with a short write-up about this luck of the draw pain point.

Sorry to hear that ( no pun ) ….I’m still on the fence….did you experience any of the other issues being discussed? Like 4-5 second lags or resistance drop outs…. guess I oughta start reading some of the other reviews/comment sections to c.m.a….

Didn’t notice anything else that was wildly out of the ordinary. Some lag, but not 4-5 seconds; pretty much as Ray talks about in the review. I think you’ve boiled it down to the bottom line – luck. Reaction to sound is personal so what bothers me might be fine for someone else. I think Elite is completely out to lunch selling a product with this type of audio variability. Their charts and graphs and noise analysis is completely meaningless and in my mind is done to insulate them from a huge number of warranty repairs/returns. This is not a matter of scientific analysis but one of human perception. It wasn’t just my perception either. It was driving my wife mad being in the same room hearing that beep, beep, beep.

My advice is to stay away from Elite trainer products unless you’re willing to buy and go through the hassle of expensive return shipping. Ideally buying from a local shop with a fair return policy would be ideal. Shame on me for just reading Ray’s review and not wading through over 400 comments.

What I find funny about this whole thing is that it’s literally the same stepper motor part that’s been used in other Elite trainers for years…years – and nobody ever said anything about being a problem.

Well, technically there are two versions of the stepper motor. A loud one and a more quit one. I have the loud one. I cannot say that it bothers me. I think I actually like it since it indicates audibly change in resistance so I prepare myself. If I had the option to not have it, I would opt for that option. But I am not going to send it back to CT just for that. I did this already several times with the Wahoo KICKR SNAP uneven rollers last year! haha.

How can you check/update Direto’s firnware?? It doesn’t seem that the Elite Training app can do it.

I’ve never dealt with CT before this event, but thus far based on everyone I’ve spoken to there, it seems to be an outstanding, quality shop/group of people….not unlike Ray in that they seem to tell it like it is and aim do the right thing….. Makes sense that Ray would hitch his wagon to them…..(or vice versa ; ) Anyhow, sorry about your misfortune ….big hassle no doubt….

But I’m thinking IF you bought it from CT, that you could share your experience in dealing with them as well ….they claim a 60 day no hassle, aim to please return (replace?) policy….thus, you kinda get to see the sausage being made so to speak and can share your impressions in that regard. As for me, since Ray is WAAAAYYYY more thorough, experienced and organized than I re: assessing the myriad of gadgets we all lust after… and since all the other reviews seem to echo his conclusions, I’m still gonna go with this unit…..(not to mention the fact that too much rock and roll, gunplay and heavy equipment has rendered my hearing somewhat less than discerning) and maybe the spotlight being shined on this stepper debacle will entice them to weed out the noisy motors from the assembly line going forward…also, I gotta be close to the end of the queue, so the dice feel kinda warm to me at this point.

As to CT and this return. They were GREAT and gives you confidence in buying from CT. This is my first return with them. I have to send an email to the USA distributor (Todson) and they will handle issuing me a return label. I’m going to offer to drop it off as they are located not too far from where I live. I’m guessing they will prefer it just be shipped back.

As to sourcing… I think any responsible manufacturer has to consider multiple sources for critical parts. Remember what happened with disk drives several years ago and camera sensors 1 1/2 years ago? Natural disasters created significant worldwide supply problems. The trick is to have exacting specs for the parts, and that is something Elite didn’t seem to do or at least around the audio qualities of the motors.

Clayton – I truly hope you end up with a quiet version. I’m waiting on a Neo from CT so noise should not be an issue.

That’s all good news, Man….Glad to hear it….The Neo would be my first choice but I’m trying to show some fiscal restraint where I can… with this being my first foray into indoor training…. I bought a new bike this summer, and new IMac too….and am outfitting my cave as high end as I can within reason…(bought a 55” Black Friday deal) so a big ouch as it is already…..

Also I’m with both you guys regarding the idiocy of having 2 different suppliers/ motors….whatever the issue is…..But I’m guessing they are probably hearing this discourse and discontent and get it straightened out…. This kind of feedback is invaluable for our little congregation here….

I’ve been going through the return process with CT and the Elite distributor. Very smooth and they way you’d always wish customer service would happen. Just a bit of info from the distributor… they are expecting new shipments the end of this month or early January and said they will be much quieter. I asked how you’d know if you’re getting a quiet or noisy version and their response was the new shipment will be much quieter. Not a giant leap to infer that Elite has recognized the issue and maybe the notion of 2 versions (noisy and quiet) of the product will disappear. That would be good news. In the meantime, I took advantage of the 2nd CT trainer promo and received the Neo. What a beast – super quiet and smoooooth. The setup was also easy.

That’s also good news and good for all to hear.. us and them …. truth be told I’m a bit envious…though having to return anything that I’ve got to disassemble, then cleverly repackage REALLY torques me off……but maybe I’m just a delicate flower….. I hope the distributor is right and I’d be surprised if they didn’t move quickly to fix the stepper issue, if you are an online seller you really don’t want a meme like that getting started…. the competition is too good…as it sounds like you’ve discovered….. It sucks that I’ve got to wait till January (as CT has already informed me) but if I get a good one that has benefitted from all of our beta testing, I m ok with it….especially since where I live it seems like the 4 seasons are June, July, August and winter…..and this one is forecast to be particularly crappy. Enjoy.

I just picked one up from performancebike. The step motor is very loud. It’s like a dot matrix printer between my legs, and when you set it to maintain a wattage, the beeping is constant on off on off. Quite annoying. It does seem like a nice trainer aside from that, so I’ll try to drown it out with music.

So I did my first actual “ride” today and the step motor (louder version) actually was not noticeable once I loaded up Zwift and turned on some music. …just medium volume. I pretty much forgot it was there after a few minutes.

You’ll need two different devices or apps to record from. If you have one GPS bike computer or favorite app already, that’ll record from one. Then you could use the Wahoo Fitness free app to record the other (or the Strava app as well, thus giving you two files).

During your testing with the Elite Direto did you experience any issue with running out of resistance in Zwift during sprints or hard intervals? I am having issue when I am on the flat sections, when I am riding the flat, I will be in 53 front and 11 rear, 90rpm and it only puts out 280-300 watts. I have to ride hills when I do intervals. The other issue is when sprinting, I get out of the saddle to sprint, get up to 900w in my largest gear, then it seems like the flywheel catches up and after 8-10secs I am spinning at 130rpm 450w. I can’t even do a 20sec sprint. I have the trainer difficulty set to the max, completed the spin down/ calibration. I have only had my direto for a couple of weeks and I have done the calibration, number came up as 6372. I have emailed Elite and awaiting their feedback. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks, Russ

HI Russel, what u r experiencing is a known ‘issue’…but more than a real issue i suppose is a physical limit of the direto (and someone says that is almost the same thing with drivo) With big gears you do not have to pass something like a critical cadence, if this happens…you ‘break’ the ERG mode and you can hold even 100 or 200 watts more than the target ones.

So, even if it is not the same identical thing, you only have to shift to shorter gears and this critical cadence start to raise. For example if you choouse a 34×18 or similar you have to go really high with RPM to break ERG and put the direto in trouble.

I think many user have no problem with ERG is only due to the gear and RPM they use…with the ‘right’ gear you can do even 500W intervals without problem.

With this power curve we can calculate what is the limt of RPM for a given gear in order to don’t ‘break’ ERG mode. If we go outside of this power curve direto (and not only direto ) can NOT hold us back to the target wattages if we pass them.

@Ray, i Hope this could help everyone like me with problems with ERG mode

Terrific, iker! I don’t do Facebook, so the power curve fabio kindly mentioned did me no good. This is clear, and I can save and refer to it if needed to clear up mysteries. Elite should include it as part of the Direto package. Or maybe they could simplify it: “Use the small chainring unless you’re pro.”

@Fabio, you are welcome to post it.at the forum. i have noticed a typo in the 101-890 watts interval @80 rpm, where it says 50×14 should say 50×19. There could be other errors, but the takehome message is use small ring middle cog unless you are a pro and want to do sprints, and then you will notice a relatively high floor.

im trying to find a correspondence between your file and what i found when i first see the ‘issue’.

I can remember that i was riding with 50×14 and with a target watt of 200W i’ve ‘broken’ ERG mode with a cadence of 95/96 RPM. With that cadence i was riding at 225/230W even with a 200W target wattage.

when target wattage raised at 250W , with the same gear, i needed 100 and more RPM to break it.

Having issues with bluetooth control using iphone and ipad with elite direto. Takes several attempts of unplugging trainer and rebooting iphone or ipad prior to ride. Is there a fix coming for this problem or do I need to return trainer for exchange?

That behavior sounds like you may have an app open somewhere in the background that’s locking the Bluetooth Smart connection (remember, BLE only allows one concurrent connection). Thus your retry over and over is essentially you winning the race for that connection by pure luck.

Thanks Ray. When I’m having trouble, the iphone or ipad is receiving from the trainer(I can see rpm and watts) but the trainer doesn’t change resistance in any mode. So it’s pairing but not controlling.

TrainerRoad mostly but Elite ap does the same. Others are having similar issues and discussing on slowtwitch. When I get to work, it is awesome. I have shut my ipad down and will continue to try iphone. Hopefully, whatever is causing the problem will be figured out. Thanks again!

What version of iOS are you using….I find ios11 in general to have caused a certain amount of “ bugginess” that I didn’t experience when using ios 10.3.3 …..ive only upgraded my iPad as I use my iPhone to integrate with an antiquated system at work so I can’t risk breaking anything….

Crazy, all worked great today. I turned iphone, ipad and garmin watch off and unplugged the trainer. Plugged the trainer in and turned on ipad only. Opened trainerroad ap and loaded workout then statted pedaling. No issues, erg worked perfect. And I am using lastest ios update.

Hi Ray, thank you for the in-depth review of the Direto, I found it very helpful. I am currently choosing a home trainer and what I thought would be a relative easy choice is proving itself to be more and more complicated. I would like to ask you for a piece of advice on choosing a trainer that would suit me. I am 194cm tall and weigh about 110 kg and as a former shot putter and with my weight I can produce some above average wattage through my legs. Since better home trainers cost about the same as my bike, it is an investment I would like not to mess up. What would in your opinion be the best option for an amateur cyclist like me who would also like to do some indoor training during the rainy winter days here in Germany. Would you recommend the Direto or is there another alternative to it? I am aware that with my weight I should probably not sprint my butt off on it, but it would be nice to have something that I would be confident enough to use. Thanks for your time and any advice you might have for me. Best, Luka

I’m considering this trainer as I’ve always wanted to go direct mount (but didn’t want to shell out 1200+ USD. Can anybody comment on the Elite warranties within the United States? Is it more or less non-existent, being an Italian based company with only one US distributor? I’m thinking more outside the 1 – 2 month window that the stores would give you for returns…say the unit breaks down in 8 months, would a LBS be able to send it to a US distributor (or Italy) for a replacement if it’s under a year? And say it’s been 2 years (not sure if they do a 1 year, lifetime, 1 month warranty…) – if it’s outside whatever window they have, do LBS have any luck sourcing parts or repairs for Elite trainers? This is an awesome pricepoint – my only concern is if it breaks down in 2 years if there would be any option for repair. I’ve checked their website and there is basically no warranty policy available from what I could find.

I’ve just got myself a Direto to replace a failing Vortex. Whilst the feel is much improved, I am pretty disappointed by how poorly the Direto follows the TrainerRoad power curve in ERG mode. The Vortex would keep very close to the line. The Direto is all over the place. I thought that I had an issue with the unit until I re-read this article and saw how variable your power plot was on TR.

no problem for me with erg mode and TR. but it ‘s better if you read the power curve of the direto or one of the sheet some user has created based on that power curve. If u pedal outside of the area between the 2 lines of the power curve direto can’t hold the requested wattage.

So I’ve read some of the comments above and on the excellent Elite Direto group on faceboook. I have set the power smoothing (to 5 initially) and tried using the small ring for lower target power and my first, albeit rather brief, test is much more positive. Managed to keep much closer to the target power curve. Will have to wait a couple of days for an opportunity to try a full workout.

I have actually the exact same experience (except my vortex is still fully functional) – Wonky power on the Direto (though interval average is usually pretty much good), going to try the power smoothing.

For what it’s worth the resistance seems pretty constant and my Garmin Vector 3 report the same power.

I think we are just used to artificially smoothed power from the nature of the vortex. From what I hear the kickr is the same with the flywheel internally.

How are you now finding the power smoothness with the Direto compared to the Vortex? I have a Vortex at the moment and I am thinking of getting the Direto. However, the ability to ride and hold the power specified in TrainerRoad is important. I saw DC’s review and was surprised to see the spikes in TrainerRoad when in ERG mode. I never get that with the Vortex. So any observations will be appreciated.